


A Different Apocalypse

by heda_is_life



Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV), The 100 (TV), The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - The 100 (TV) Fusion, Badass, Clexa Week, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Inspired by The Walking Dead, Love, Slow Burn, Smut, Walkers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-01-30 08:54:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12650274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heda_is_life/pseuds/heda_is_life
Summary: This is an alternate universe inspired by FTWD and TWD times. The characters are from The 100, but instead of living in a nuclear apocalyptic world the characters now live in a walker infested world. There will be love, loss, and struggle. This is no ordinary AU, this one has the best characters mixed with the best tv show times.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Shit has hit the fan faster than anyone had expected. Clarke Griffin, a trauma flight nurse with the U.S. Air Force, will have to race against all odds to stock up on medical supplies and food for her family.

**Character Analysis!!!!!**

**Chapter 1 on the next page!!!!**

 

**Clarke (23):**

Former occupation: trauma flight nurse with the air force

Sexuality: bisexual

Family: Mom, Abby--step-sister Octavia--step-father Marcus

Friends/group: Bellamy, Raven, Jasper, Monty, and Murphy

Skills now: 

  * Good in medical situations
  * Good with a machete and gun and throwing knives
  * Natural badass, is a very good hunter
  * Easy to like, always wants to meet new people but is normally a bad judge of character because she still tries to see the good in people even when there is no good



**Lexa (24):**

Former occupation: Pararescue with the Air Force

Sexuality: lesbian

Family: sister Anya--brother Aden

Friends/group: Anya, Aden, Lincoln, Indra, Nyko, Gustus, Roan, Echo

Skill now: 

  * She is an avid hunter, she has always been good at hunting 
  * Good with anything outdoors (fire, shelter, collecting rain water)
  * Leader of the group
  * Strays towards “all people are bad if they aren’t my people”
  * Over protective with her family
  * She specializes with a sword and often carries two, still practices martial arts



**Raven (23):**

Former occupation: engineer for NASA/freelance engineer for the air force

Sexuality: bisexual

Family: none, her boyfriend Finn was killed towards the beginning

Skills now: 

  * She can make anything go boom
  * Smartass that can help make friends
  * Good with a gun
  * Can climb trees for vantage points
  * Can convert light to energy and all that good stuff



**Bellamy (25):**

Former occupation: firefighter

Sexuality: straight

Family: sister Octavia--father Marcus--step sister Clarke--stepmother Abby

Skills now:

  * He's the muscle of the operation
  * Good judge of character
  * Great with a gun and bow 
  * Big brother effect on people, makes everyone feel safe
  * Great hunter and can track like no other



**Octavia (21):**

Former occupation: war photographer

Sexuality: straight

Family: brother Bellamy--father Marcus--step sister Clarke--stepmother Abby

Skills now:

  * A natural warrior
  * Quick learner
  * Stealthy
  * Agile
  * Tough as nails



**Abby (48):**

Former occupation: General surgeon

Marital status: married to Marcus Kane

Family/group: daughter Clarke--husband Marcus Kane--stepchildren Octavia and Bellamy

Skills now: 

  * Good in erratic medical situations
  * Has knowledge over just about every disease and how to treat them
  * Can take control when shit hits the fan
  * Makes everyone feel wanted and like they have a mother



**Anya (26):**

Former occupation: nuclear diver

Sexuality: lesbian

Family/group: brother Aden--sister Lexa

Skills now:

  * Badass
  * Knows when to back off of bad situations
  * Good judge of character but is skeptical of new people
  * Great hunter, knows what plants are useful for medicinal purposes
  * Has a rocking jaw line



**Echo (23):**

Former occupation: artillery observer for the navy

Sexuality: straight

Family/group: brother Roan (he won’t come into the picture until later)

Skills now:

  * Very observant
  * Good with any weapon
  * Natural assassin
  * Good at psychoanalyzing people
  * Has a lot of endurance



**Kane (50):**

Former occupation: war consultant

Marital status: married to Abby

Family/group: children Octavia and Bellamy--wife Abby--step daughter Clarke

Skills now:

  * A good politic
  * Can resolve issues easily
  * Excellent shot
  * Easily trusted, never goes back on his word



**Aden (17):**

Former occupation: student/training to go into the marines with his siste

Sexuality: straight

Family/group: sisters Anya and Lexa 

Skills now:

  * He’s young and easy to use to get sympathy from other groups
  * Athletic all around
  * Good with any bladed weapon and hand to hand contact
  * Can track like nobodies business



**Lincoln (26):**

Former occupation: Navy Seal

Sexuality: straight

Family/group: no family but is with Lexa’s group

Skills now:

  * Can track literally anything that is alive
  * Strong as an ox
  * Skilled in all types of fighting
  * Very loyal and honorable



**To clear up some things**

Bellamy and Octavia are Kane’s children. Yes I know that if they were his children they should have taken Marcus’ last name (Kane) but I have always thought that Bell and O are Kane’s children in the show. So I am writing them in as his children with the last name of Blake (like the show). Kane adopted the two after their mother died in a car accident when they were five (Kane and their mother were best friends). He gave the Blakes a choice to keep their last name or to change it when they were old enough to understand. They chose to keep their last name in memory of their mother.

 

**The rest of Clarke’s group will be found later on in the story…**


	2. The Beginning of the End

“Go home Griffin, board your house up, and pray,” Captain Wells had even gone as far as giving Clarke the key to the armory. She didn’t know what to do, Captain Wells had never looked so terrified in his life- and that says a lot, he’s been deployed seven times. 

All Clarke could do was load up as many guns and as much ammo as she could, without leaving her people without resources. She backed her jeep into the armory and grabbed ten AR-15’s, five FN SCAR’s, and fifteen .45 caliber pistols. 

That’s when it hit, she thought she saw Captain Wells walking around one of the ammo carts. Turns out it  _ was _ him, just  _ not _ him. She didn’t know what to expect at first, here her captain was...dead but alive. She knew it the second she saw him. Clarke immediately felt a pang of guilt run through her body. Wells had potentially saved her life, she couldn’t just let him walk around like a lifeless creature. She owed him more, he deserved more. 

“Damnit cap,” Clarke pulled out her knife and hit against one of the carts. Her heart felt constricted when “Wells” came around the corner. This man had done everything in his power to make sure she reached her full potential. He had even pulled strings to get her a the Combat Medical Award. Now she was staring at his reanimated self, one that is full of death, violence, and nothingness. 

_ I’m sorry cap, you didn’t deserve this.  _

Clarke extended her arm to keep distance between them and kicked his legs out from under him. She rolled Wells on his stomach and slid the knife under his helmet. Everything was still. She let out a sigh of sadness and rolled her former captain on his back. Clarke closed his eyes and grabbed his velcro name tag and stuck in on her chest plate. 

The next thing on the list was medicine. Clarke hid and locked her jeep, throwing a few more guns and rounds of ammunition in the back along with her favorite weapon...throwing knives. She took off to med bay, being as quiet as possible, but moving as fast as she could. 

Clarke rounded the corner going to medbay and was met by six walkers. She went to grab her gun, but decided that it would attract too much attention. She grabbed her knife and took out three without a problem. The last three were taken out by someone from behind. 

“Master Sergeant Reyes? What are you doing here?” Clarke questioned, Reyes was supposed to have been transported back to NASA earlier. 

“Saving your ass First Lieutenant,” Raven saluted her superior. 

“We need to get to medbay so I can get medicine.”

“Let’s go then,” Raven took off running towards the entrance. The two soldiers took out a few walkers that were lingering at the door. Clarke knew most of them, or was at least acquainted with them, so it was a little depressing on her end. It seemed to be hitting Raven the same way. 

“Here! Let’s get anything you can, and keep the fragile medications in their carriers. We don’t need any of them to break,” Clarke ordered.

“What about the vitamins doc?”

“Yeah, focus on anything that ends in -cylan or -codon, but if there is room stock up on the vitamins.” Clarke was running through all of the labels trying to triage the most important medications. “Oh and be sure to get aspirin and ibuprofen.”

Clarke grabbed all the gauze and medical tape she could find and stuffed them in her backpack. She reluctantly used the backpack of one of the walkers,  _ Master Sergeant Monroe _ . Clarke took her velcro nametag and placed it by Captain Wells’. Clarke looked up and saw a group of about twenty walkers coming towards the medbay.

“Fill this up as quick as you can,” Clarke threw Raven the backpack, “we’ve got company.”

Raven picked up her pace and ended up just dumping medical supplies in the backpack. She ran over to the surgical equiptment and filled a duffel bag with clamps, scalpels, sutures, breathing tubes, scissors, syringes, and packing towels. 

“We gotta go!” Clarke was backing into the equipment room. 

“I grabbed everything I could find,” Raven listed everything she put in the duffel. 

“That’s good, follow me,” Clarke locked the medbay door and turned to the door on her left, she shot the lock off. 

“What’s in here?” Reyes followed Clarke with another duffel bag in hand.

“Med reserves, it’s where we keep the more important meds that need to stay hidden,” Clarke pointed to one of the shelves, “get all of those on the shelf.”

“Yes ma’am First Lieutenant Griffin,” Raven didn’t mean it in a smartass way. Her and Clarke had gone to the same high school, so there was a constant comfort between the two.

“Don’t call me that,” Clarke laughed. They finished packing the medication in the duffel bags and turned back towards the door. They couldn’t go out the way they came, so they headed for the emergency exit. 

“Stay sharp and watch your corners,” Clarke commanded. The guys in her platoon referred to her as “Wanheda” or bringer of death, which was a little biased since she had only lost six soldiers in five tours. Clarke was the best at what she did, and she knew it but didn’t show it. 

There wasn’t much activity until they hit the main airstrip, which was where Clarke’s jeep was. “Fuck me man,” Raven rounded the corner and saw a herd of former soldiers. It made her nauseous, she and Clarke knew most of those people. 

“How you plan on gettin past those First Lieutenant?”

“We go right through them,” Clarke turned to look at Raven, “ready to run Master Sergeant?” 

“When are we ever ready?”

“Good point,” Clarke tightened the straps on her backpack and hooked her straps around her legs so the bag would move with her.

“Shit! You know what we forgot,” Raven looked disappointed, “water.”

“Damn,” Clarke started formulating a plain in her head, “when we get to my jeep we can ride it around to the side.” 

The two friends took off in a dead sprint towards the hanger. They didn’t stop for anything, not to kill any walkers, not to take a breath, nothing. They just ran. After attracting the attention of a few deadly friends, Clarke and Raven reached Clarke’s jeep and jumped in. 

“Holy shit. I think part of me died back there,” Raven said between breathes. 

“Damn, that’s the fastest I’ve ever run.” 

“Alright, so now we go get water? What about food?”

“Yeah, we can drive by the pantry area and see how many walkers are over there.”

“Walkers?” Raven asked.

“Yeah, I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before. It kind of fits if you think about it.”

“Makes sense,” Raven shrugged, “so are we just gonna wing it or are we gonna formulate a plan here?”

Clarke thought for a second, “They seem to be attracted to sound. I say we throw a grenade or a flashbang over by the helis and draw their attention over there.”

“Works for me doc,” Raven rolled her window down and sat on the door face, “here goes nothin.” Raven sent a flashbang flying through the air. A loud  _ bang  _ attracted the attention of the unwanted guests. The two women ducked down in Clarke’s jeep and waited for the remaining walkers to pass.

Once the coast was clear, Raven hung out of the window and chucked a grenade at one of the remaining helicopters. Again, another loud  _ bang _ drew the walkers to the noise. An explosion was followed by the sound and a fire started. 

“Nice Reyes, I didn’t think about that,” Clarke was impressed that her friend thought the plan through so thoroughly. 

“Think about what?”

“The fire keeping them occupied for a while?”

“Oh, yeah that works too. I just wanted to blow shit up, but thanks for putting meaning to my insanity,” Raven pointed her hand towards the pantry area, “onward my trusty steed!”

Raven’s “plan” worked perfectly, there were just a few stragglers left behind at the base. There was plenty of canned food and boxes upon boxes of MRE’s (meals ready to eat). The water was stocked up too, from wall to wall in the refrigerated section of the pantry was pure water.

“Hey, you think we need my car for more stuff?” Raven asked since they could only fit two cases of water in Clarke’s jeep.

“Yeah, where did you park it?” 

“It’s not far, I can go get it. Just wait for me here and watch your back.” 

“You too Master Sergeant.”

Clarke laid her front passenger seat down to make room for more water. She went back in the pantry to get another case when she saw a guy with dark, curly hair peeking into her jeep. 

“Back away slowly with your hands up,” Clarke said it in her Wanheda voice.

The man did as he was told and turned around slowly.

“Bell? What the fuck are you doing here?” Clarke swung her gun back around her shoulder and walked over to her step-brother. 

“We were going to welcome you home, but then shit hit the fan,” Bellamy reached out for a hug and Clarke reciprocated. 

“We?”

“Yeah, O, dad, and Abby are here too,” he walked around the corner.

“Mom!” Clarke ran up to her mom and pulled her in for a hug, “I’m so glad you guys are okay.” Clarke pulled her step-sister and step-father into the hug. 

“What are you doing?” Abby said looking at Clarke’s jeep. 

“Stocking up on food and guns. Raven is here, she just went to get her car,” right as she finished her sentence Raven rounded the corner in her Tahoe. 

“Momma Griff!” Raven ran up and gave everyone hugs.

“I know the reunion is nice and all but we need to finish getting supplies,” Clarke directed everyone to the pantry. No one was allowed to go anywhere without a knife, gun, and partner. Clarke used Kane’s truck to load more weapons, ammunition, and gas. “Hey Kane, can you still drive an 18-wheeler?” 

“Yeah, I suppose I can.”

“Good, because we have a tanker full of gas that we could really use.”

“Bellamy can drive one too,” Octavia said. 

“Yeah, I’m licensed to drive a firetruck.”

“Good, because I was about to ask for a crash course for you,” Clarke said. 

The group had gathered all their vehicles could hold. Which was five, including the tankers, that left Abby and Octavia as passengers. 

“I have the keys to two of our rovers that you two can drive,” Clarke threw her mom a set of keys and then the other set to the youngest Blake. Raven, and the rest of their miniature convoy, followed Clarke to the rovers, “Oh and don’t worry about running over any walkers. All of the vehicles, including mine and Raven’s, have reinforced rubber tires, bulletproof glass, steel rod bumpers, and reinforced steel bodies.” 

They drove the rovers back to the pantry and loaded the remaining cases of water and food into Abby’s rover. Then the group went and cleaned out the armory; small guns, big guns, ammo, knives, flashbangs, grenades, landmines, C-4, you name it they have it. Clarke made sure to fuel up all of the vehicles, including both tankers, from the central pump before they headed out. 

After all of the vehicles were stuffed to the max with supplies, the convoy took a deep breath. They began to really process what was happening. 

“Well shit,” Raven broke the silence.

“Yep,” Abby answered. 

“We need to find somewhere to settle down,” Clarke was always the objective one. 

“It’s going to be chaos out there,” Kane said, “Why can’t we just stay here?” As if on cue, the herd of walkers from earlier rounded the corner.

“That’s why,” Clarke started for her jeep, “follow me.”   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what I can do to change things for the better!!


	3. Coming Home? Think Not...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the chapters are going to get longer from here on out...i wrote short chapters for the two intro chapters

Lexa Woods lay awake in her room. Her mind was racing due to her recent promotion; she would be considered a  _ First Lieutenant. _ Normally she would be out on the base drinking with the other guys in her platoon, but something felt off. Lexa had always prided herself on her instincts and ability to get herself out of shitty situations by just listening to her body. 

Now was one of those times. Something was just so off, it wasn’t her because she felt great. Maybe she just needed some air. Yeah that’s what it was, she had been in this room too much. Lexa walked out of her room; well really it was her sister’s guest bedroom, but when she came back from overseas she stayed with her older sister Anya and little brother Aden. Anya’s house was a twenty minute run to the Air Force base in San Francisco. 

“Hey Aden, I’m gonna run to the base. Wanna join? The guys won’t believe how strong you are,” Aden had been training everyday for basic. He had planned to follow his older sister to the Air Force one day.

“Yeah! Lemme change really quick,” just like that, Aden was off to change. 

“Anya! Aden and I are going to run to the base really quick. We’ll be back in an hour,” Lexa shouted at her sister, who was in the kitchen.

“Be back in time for supper. I made your favorite,” Anya called back.

_ Hell yeah. Bowtie alfredo pasta with shrimp. She hadn’t eaten this good since she was redeployed. So...nine months.  _

“I bet I’ll beat you!” Aden ran past Lexa and out the front door.

“Bet you won’t!” Lexa took off a few paces behind her little brother. For a seventeen year old, Aden could run like nobody’s business. But so could Lexa.

“Hey loser,” Lexa taunted. 

“I’m not going to lose to you again. I’m going to keep a good pace so you will think you’ve got me and then  _ boom! _ I beat you.”

“Nice plan lil bro. Hate that it won’t work,” Lexa picked up her pace a little. 

After about fifteen minutes of running behind Lexa, Aden gradually picked up some speed. He was only a few paces behind Lexa, who didn’t seem phased by the one and half miles so far. Aden wasn’t even tired yet, so he caught up to his sister, “Wanna take the long way around?”

“If you think you’re up to it.”

Aden took a sharp turn to the right and got in the lead...for a few seconds. The “long way around” was an added five miles to the run. Aden decided to catch back up with Lexa and slow things down a little; not that he was tired, because he really wasn’t, he just wanted to enjoy some time with his sister. 

“Slow down will you. I haven’t seen you in nine months, I would like to enjoy this run with you,” Lexa slowed down and matched Aden’s speed. They ran in silence for about three miles. 

“So, you got any girls that’ve caught your eye?”

“No, I’ve been focusing on my training.”

“What? No one is catching my handsome little brother’s eye? Who do I need to beat up?”

“No one,” Aden laughed. “How about you? Any girls catch my hot sister’s eye?”

Lexa didn’t answer immediately, “Yeah, actually there is,” Lexa let a smile escape.

“Really? Now who might that be? Do I know her?”

“Uhm, I’m not entirely sure. She’s a little shorter than me, has blonde hair, the brightest blue eyes you’ve ever seen, has a  _ nice  _ ass, and great boobs.”

“You know, you could just tell me her name, instead of describing her,” Aden laughed. 

“Clarke, Clarke Griffin.”

“That’s a badass name for a girl.”

“It fits her well. She rides on the choppers with me when I go for rescues.”

“Does she pararescue too?” 

“No, she’s the trauma flight nurse. She has saved more people than I can even count. She’s truly amazing,” Lexa looked over at Aden, who had a stupid grin on his face.

“I’m gonna tell her because you don’t have the balls to,” Aden started running faster now. There was only half a mile left until they reached the base.

“You don’t even know what she looks like!” Lexa said catching up.

“The ‘ _ brightest  _ blue eyes you’ve ever seen.’ I think I have a pretty good idea,” Aden pushed more than he ever had. 

“Wait you little twerp!” Lexa sprinted to beat Aden when she noticed something weird about the base. “Wait! Wait, Aden STOP!”

“What? It’s just a joke sis,” Aden stopped and gave his sister a confused look.

“Do you see that?” Lexa pointed to the ball of fire at the base. The base was about a quarter of a mile away.

“Yeah, I see it. Why is that heli on fire?”

“It shouldn’t be,” and then it hit Lexa. “A different apocolypse.”

“What?”

“It’s here,” Lexa’s stomach sank.

“What’s here? Lex what are you talking about?” Lexa jerked Aden to a squat.

“Listen to me. Go back to the house, get Anya, go upstairs, and lock  _ everything. _ Clean out the safe, get every gun and all of the ammo you can find. I have a few knives and guns in my room. Now go, and don’t stop for anything or anyone” Lexa stood up and started to run, but Aden grabbed her wrist.

“Lexa! What the hell are you talking about?”

“There’s no time to explain, just go and do what I said,” Lexa jerked her arm out of Aden’s grasp. She looked back and saw Aden take off in a dead sprint towards their house. 

_ No, no, no. This wasn’t supposed to happen so soon! Captain Wells said it would take a few more months to reach the United States...damn.  _ Lexa ran onto the base to find, what looked like,  _ every single _ soldier that was scheduled to return to their families roaming around. They were all lifeless. 

_ Don’t cry, not now Woods. Get what you need and go. What if Clarke made it? What if she grabbed supplies and made it?  _ She almost finished her thought when she saw her. “Clarke,” it was more of a whimper than a name. 

Lexa walked slowly to the walker.  _ Damnit Clarke, you should have known how to take care of yourself.  _ Lexa took her knife off of her belt. “Hey,” she said, exasperated. The creature turned around painfully slow. Lexa’s heart felt like it was being crushed. 

“Oh thank god,” Lexa let out a sigh of relief. It wasn’t Clarke. She eased the creature to the ground and slipped her knife under the helmet. Although it was not Clarke, Lexa still felt for this victim. Major General Madison Clark, she was Lexa’s inspiration. Major General Clark took Lexa under her wing on day one. Lexa owed her life to this woman. The least Lexa could do was keep her name tag. She would attach it to her chestplate when she got back to Anya’s.

_ Okay Lex, get what you need and go.  _ Lexa looked around for a vehicle she could use. She knew where the keys to the rovers were, sadly that area was currently infested with the dead. Lexa took off towards the armory, maybe she could distract them somehow. 

When she reached the arsenal, an entire section had been cleared out.  _ Good, that means someone made it. _ Lexa took one of the remaining grenades and threw it at one of the other helicopters on the opposite end of the landing. It worked, almost immediately the helicopter was surrounded by hundreds of walkers. 

Lexa was careful to stay out of sight and as quiet as possible. When Lexa reached Captain Wells’ office, she grabbed a few sets of keys so she could come back with Anya and Aden. Lexa ran to one of the rovers as fast as she could. She rounded the corner to see a convoy of vehicles getting on the road. 

_ Holy shit! That’s Clarke’s jeep!  _ Lexa ran faster than she did when she was being chased by Pauna through the jungle in the Amazon. She started waving her arms to try and catch the attention of Clarke.  _ C’mon! Notice me! Clarke!  _ She wanted to yell her name, but she knew it would only attract unwanted attention.  _ Please! Just look this way! Clarke, please I need you! _

Lexa kept running, hoping that Clarke would just look to her left and see Lexa. She was so close, Lexa could see her blonde hair through the window.  _ No, just look over here! _

Lexa slowed down, she knew deep down that she was probably never going to see the blonde again. She stopped and said a small prayer to whoever was listening, “please just let her be okay. Let her survive this.”   
  


Clarke touched the two name tags on her chest, “May we meet again,” she whispered under her breath. With her eyes forward, she looked into the darkest horizon she had ever seen.  _ Off to nowhere.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if there is anything you guys want to see in the future, drop it in the comments!!!


	4. New Friends

It had been almost two months after the outbreak hit the United States. Clarke and her group were settled in a small town just east of San Francisco. They had everything they needed, water, food, protection, walls, transportation, and each other. Raven had been a tremendous help when constructing the walls of the town. Her experience as an engineer for NASA made her key, in the security of the place. 

Luckily, there was a mall being constructed down the road from the town, so supplies were almost unlimited. Raven had the ingenious idea to weld two of the sheets of metal together to make the walls more stable. 

“Again, you’re welcome. I know I’m the best, you don’t have to thank me,” Raven had a huge ego, this was her domain though. She really was the best for the job.

Once Clarke’s group had secured the town, they decided to take initiative on maximizing space. They went through every building and reorganized every room, relocating everything into one area. Doing this early on gave them an advantage to others. 

There were seven buildings in the small town, which resembled more a strip mall. Each building serves its own purpose; there is a kitchen/eating area, medical building/armory, a guard tower, and the remaining buildings house a pair: Clarke and Raven, Octavia and Bellamy, and Abby and Kane. 

Each person had a unique skill set that allowed them to contribute to the group as a whole. Kane could hike farther than any other member, which made him essential for the hunting party. Abby was the medical expert and was improving her fighting skills everyday. Octavia was, surprisingly, the best hunter. Bellamy was great at setting traps. Raven had been working on her tracking skills. Clarke was a mix of all of the above; she could track, hunt, and make traps and snares, plus she knew a lot about medicine. 

To say that the group was flourishing would be an understatement. Yes, they were living in a world where the dead walked among them, a world on constant alert, a world where you can’t let your guard drop because if it does, bad things happen. Like now…

“Hey Clarke, can you pass me my knife? It’s right by your foot,” Bellamy was setting a trap for some big game. 

“Yeah,” Clarke turned around to grab Bell’s knife, when she felt something cold on the back of her head. She stopped immediately and took inventory of the size and tried to work out the size of the person holding the gun. The barrel wasn’t too large, it was probably a glock of some sort. The person’s shadow only stretched a few feet, which meant they weren’t incredibly tall. 

“Drop it, now,” the voice wasn’t too commanding, it almost sounded childish. 

“Eh, eh, eh. Relax pretty boy, there’s five of us and two of you,” Clarke heard Bellamy put his gun on the ground, “Now, we don’t want to hurt any of you. We’re here because we need your help,” Clarke supposed the man that was talking was the leader.

The blonde turned around slowly with her hands above her head, “Why should we help you?”

“Ah, she’s a beauty isn’t she?” 

“What’s your name?” Clarke needed to take more inventory. 

“Ron’s the name. Those are my kids: Niylah, Andrea, and Murphy and my best friend James. Would you like to know anything else sweetcheeks?” Clarke didn’t bother looking at anyone else Ron named, Niylah had her full attention. She was about Clarke’s height, had a gentle face, and was very pretty. 

“What do you want from us?” Bellamy directed Clarke’s attention back to Ron.

“Well, ya see. We’ve been watching you all for a bit. And we want to relieve you of your little settlement you have,” this guy had a real arrogance about him when he spoke. It pissed Clarke off. 

“Fuck off,” Clarke spit towards Ron’s feet.

“I think I’ll have you do that sweetcheeks,” Ron took a step towards Clarke and stroked her face. Clarke of course didn’t like this, she spit again, this time in his face. Apparently Ron didn’t like that too much, he drew his hand back and slapped her.

“Don’t touch her!” Niylah jumped at her father and grabbed his arm.

“What? You think I’m going to let her talk to me like that?” Ron directed his attention to his daughter and away from Clarke. “Oh no, don’t tell me you like her…”

Niylah cowered back, “She’s just...just trying to defend herself. She hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“Listen to me girl, you better not ever do that again. You understand me?” Ron was still approaching Niylah. Clarke took advantage of the attention on Niylah and spun around on one knee. She grabbed Murphy’s leg and pulled it towards her, knocking him off balance. She jumped on top of him and flipped Murphy on his stomach, taking his gun from his hand. 

“Don’t take another step,” Clarke had Murphy’s Glock 19 pointed at Ron. 

“Well, well. Looks like we’ve got a fighter,” Ron turned his attention back to Clarke, “Isn’t that just adorable. You two just met and you’re already standing up for each other.”

“Ron, just let them go. We can find somewhere else to go,” Andrea didn’t seem too fond of her father, she called him by his actual name rather than dad.

“No, Andrea! You just shut up and stay in the back!” Ron pointed his gun at Andrea and Clarke jumped. She wrestled Ron to the ground and disarmed him. Clarke could hear Bellamy struggling with James behind her. 

Bellamy was very strong, he should have had no problem taking the older man out. What Clarke didn’t know, was James had slipped his knife between Bellamy’s ribs.

And then there was a gunshot. And Bellamy went limp. Clarke stopped dead in her tracks, she could see a flash of all the things her and Bell had done together. He had taken her to her first concert nine years ago, he had taken her to Six Flags for the first time, he had done so many things with her. 

“No. No!” Clarke yelled and turned around to Murphy who was holding Andrea’s gun. Clarke raised her gun to Murphy’s head.

“I shot James! I didn’t shoot your friend! I promise!” Murphy was stammering backwards and tripped over a tree root, which made him drop the gun. 

Clarke jerked her head back around to her step-brother, James’ limp body fell off of him. Clarke could see Bellamy breathing. 

“Bell!” Clarke rushed over to her step brother, “ Hey, look at me. You’re good, okay? I’m gonna get you back to camp,” Clarke helped Bellamy to his feet, much to his disliking. “You can come with us, but he doesn’t,” Clarke looked down at Ron, who was currently knocked out. 

Andrea looked at Ron, and then at James. “I have an idea,” Andrea pulled Ron up, and propped him against a tree. She took both of his hands and tied them behind the tree, she did the same with his feet. “James will reanimate soon, Ron won’t be able to get out of these.”

“Are you sure?” Clarke didn’t want Andrea to think of Clarke as the reason her father is dead.

“We’re sure. He has had control of us for too long,” Niylah reassured Clarke. 

“Alright, well let’s get going. It’s only a mile walk from here.”

Clarke led the new members back to camp, with Bellamy limping along with them. Murphy had taken Clarke’s spot as Bellamy’s support about ten minutes ago. Andrea seemed to not care about leaving her father to die at the hands of his best friends dead alive version. And Niylah seemed a little nervous, Clarke couldn’t help but look at her. Niylah was truly beautiful, and her dad said something about her liking Clarke. What does that mean though?

“Hey, you said something about Ron having control over y’all for too long. What did you mean?”

Niylah let out a sigh, “Ron killed our dad. He thought that by him sparing us, we owed him something. When our mom tried to go against him, a few years later, he killed her too. We were too afraid of him to ever rebel. He was always abusive, and he tormented me for being bisexual. Same thing with Andrea and Murph. He used to tell us we were a family of freaks,” Niylah let her head drop. 

“There’s nothing wrong with being bisexual. Throughout high school, I was always afraid to come out because I was afraid of what everyone was going to think. Then I realized that I didn’t need anyone else to decide who I should be. So, I came out to my mom. She was totally cool with it, much to my surprise, and so was my step dad. So don’t think for one second that that ass hole knew what he was talking about,” Clarke put a reassuring hand on Niylah’s arm. 

“Here we are,” Bellamy said through coughs. Clarke broke her smile with Niylah and looked up at the makeshift guard tower, the tallest building in the town, at Octavia who was standing guard. 

“Raven! Open the gate, Bell’s hurt!” O rappelled off the tower and met her brother. 

“I’m fine. Nothing Abby can’t fix,” Bellamy reassured his sister. 

“What the hell happened?” 

“Some asshole stabbed me. He’s dead now so it’s okay.”

“Bellamy? Are you okay?” Abby ran out of her and Kane’s building.

“A knife wound between ribs nine and ten. Nothing major, he’s breathing fine so the it didn’t puncture a lung. You should check it out more, but I think he will be fine with a few stitches,” Clarke told her mom. 

“Are you okay? Did you get hurt?” Abby started checking Clarke for injuries.

“No, I’m fine. Most I got was a slap to the face,” Clarke laughed.

“Good,” Abby said, relieved as she ushered Bellamy to the medical area.

“And who’s this?” Marcus appeared right after Abby and Bell reached the med room.

“This is Niylah, Andrea, and Murphy. They were,” Clarke trailed off looking at each one of them, “held captive by the people who attacked us.”

“Clarke, can I speak to you a minute?”

“Yeah.” Clarke and Kane walked towards the guard tower.

“How do you know you can trust these people inside our walls?”

“They were scared. Murphy held a gun to my head and I could practically feel him shaking. Niylah took up for me when Ron slapped me. And Andrea tried to get Ron to leave us alone and then she tied to him to a tree, unconscious while his best friend reanimated. They’ve proven themselves to me, but if you would like to speak with them I’m sure they wouldn’t mind.” Clarke didn’t mean to sound like a smartass, but that’s how it came out, so she added a soft smile. 

“I will talk to Bellamy when your mom is finished patching him up. If he feels the same as you, they’re welcome to stay,” Kane smiled back.

Clarke wasn’t surprised when Bellamy said the same things she had. Those people were trustworthy, and had earned their stay.

“Good news, you guys are welcome to stay. If you want, you don’t have to. Although I strongly advise you do. I will give you time to think if you need it,” Clarke looked at the group one by one. She could see the answer in their eyes, but thought it best for them to say it aloud.

“I’m totally down for staying,” Niylah said, with a glimmer in her eyes. 

“Fine with me,” both Murphy and Andrea nodded. 

“Great! Follow me and I will take you to your building,” Clarke led the new members to an old boutique. The racks of clothes had been taken down, the clothes packed up, and put in the back two offices. The couches were taken out of the offices and put in the main room. This building was one of the more organized out of them all. 

Luckily, the dressing rooms weren’t connected to the ground and were easily removed. They used the walls from that to create barriers for the other rooms. There were three makeshift rooms scattered around the top and bottom floors. Clarke suggested they stay on the top floor, for more protection in case of an attack. 

“If you need anything at all, Raven and I stay in the building next to this one. Once you get settled in, come find me so I can find out what skills you have and how you can contribute,” with that, Clarke left the siblings to get comfortable. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...I created three different blueprints for you guys so you could better understand the layout of everything...but of course i cant copy and paste the blueprint...so if you have any questions about the layout just comment below and i can email them to you if you want


	5. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 3 weeks after Niylah and her group entered Clarke's camp

Life for the Woods kru sucked, more than could be expected in a post apocalyptic world. They were barely getting through everyday. They were sliding by the seat of their pants. There was no safe area in site; Anya’s entire neighborhood was overrun with the dead. 

The only beneficial thing that has come since the start, which was almost three months ago, was Lincoln. Lincoln was a broad shouldered, former Navy Seal, badass. His training made him an excellent ally and friend. Although he looks like a giant, he is a teddy bear on the inside. Lincoln is selfless, he always makes sure that the rest of the group is taken care of before he even thinks about himself. 

Having him in the group meant they had a chance to survive this. He gave the group hope. 

“Hey Lex, I never got the chance to ask you what you meant by ‘a different apocalypse.’ You said it the very first day the world went shit,” Aden and the group were sitting around a small fire on the second floor of an abandoned building just east of San Francisco. 

“Oh yeah. Well, Captain Wells always talked about how the world was going to destroy itself. He thought that nuclear weapons were going to aid in those efforts. He thought that someone was going to piss someone else off and they were going to have an all out nuclear war. Which would inevitably kill the earth and everything living on it. 

But when he came back from his seventh deployment, he talked about a different apocalypse. One that was going to destroy everything using the weak souls of the world. Cap told his platoon to go home and start preparing for all out war. That’s why I brought so many guns back to the house. 

“He was totally freaked out by something, which says a lot. He is...was a fucking brick wall. Nothing ever scared him, not even the IED we took on the way out of Iraq. I knew that when I saw the base on fire, that the different apocalypse he talked about was here.”

“Then why didn’t you tell us to load up on food and stuff?” Anya asked.

“Wells thought it would take months to reach the United States. He said that the third world countries would be the first to go and everywhere else would go down later. Turns out, he was wrong,” Lexa answered, with sadness in her voice. 

“There’s no way you could have known that,” Lincoln put a comforting hand on Lexa’s arm. 

“I know,” Lexa faked a smile.

“We should get some rest. I’ll be first watch,” Lincoln offered.

 

_ You think she’s okay, but you know she isn’t. There’s no way she made it out alive. Even if you saw what you saw. Clarke had a shit ton of supplies, yet she had so many people with her. You don’t survive in this kind of place with a fucking convoy of people. The smaller the group is the better. The less threats you have of being seen. _

_ Okay, you know that’s a bunch of bullshit. There is strength in numbers. How do you think we survived that herd of dead earlier? How do you think we cleared this place? How do you think we have found food? _

_ Exactly, the more people you have, the more food you have to find. You have less rations. There is no reason to have so many people in your group. This is your family, you protect them at all cost.  _

_ Lincoln has saved us more times than I can count. He is family. He is the reason my brother and sister are here.  _

_ No, that was you. All you, and you know it. You’re the one that took them back to the base to get supplies. If that bitch Clarke hadn’t have took all those damn MRE’s and all that water, you would be set.  _

_ What the fuck are you talking about? Clarke is not a bitch? She’s a hero, she has saved more lives than I can even count.  _

_ Yeah, well what about those six soldiers she lost? _

_ Those six soldiers had stepped on a claymore. Did you forget about the other three soldiers she saved? There were nine total, they were headed to infiltrate a house that was believed to hold the leader of a very dangerous terrorist group. Somehow they were made and there was a trap. But that’s not the point, the point is is that those nine soldier stepped on a claymore. That claymore blew up underneath them and shot shrapnel into the men. Clarke did her best, and saved three of them. She is a hero. _

_ That’s bullshit! You’re so naïve Lexa. I thought I raised you better than that? Are you in love with this girl or something? Hodness laik kwelnes, ai gona. Don’t get her killed like you got Costia killed.  _

_ Costia died at the hands of Azgeda nontu!  _

_ Costia died because of your weakness ai hainofi. She died because you can’t separate feelings from your responsibility.  _

_ Me? Azgeda cut off Costia’s head and delivered it to my bed! And yet I was still willing to let them into my alliance! I am more than capable of separating feelings from duty! It’s because of you that I moved before I was named Heda. Heda has many responsibilities that I do not want to uphold. I will never have to deal with those actions as you did nontu!  _

_ Maybe you should take a walk ai hainofi, you are Heda. You have been for many months. _

_ What? No I am not. I left oso stegeda a long time ago. There is no way I am Heda. _

_ You are so ignorant, Leksa!  _

_ No I am not! _

_ You have never listened to me! You have always defied me! I am your nontu and you listen to me! I am the reason you are Heda! _

_ I don’t want to be Heda! _

_ Then wake up. _

_ What? _

_ Wake up. _

_ I, I don’t understand. _

“Lexa, wake up!” Aden was shaking his sister.

“I don’t want to be Heda!” Lexa yelled.

“Hey, listen to me. You aren’t Heda. You left the trigeda long before you were named that,” Anya kneeled next to her sister. “Our father cannot reach you strisis. Just relax.”

“But I saw him. He was telling me that I was Heda,” Lexa had tears in her eyes, her voice choked. 

“It was a dream strisis. It was just a dream,” Anya held her sister tight. 

“Wait, are you Trikru?” Lincoln asked everyone.

“Sha, ai laik Leksa kom Trikru. Aden kom Trikru es ai bro, Anya kom Trikru es ai sis.”

“Ai laik Lincoln kom Trikru,” the thickness in the air had just dissipated. Any thought of Lincoln not being family just flew out of the door.

“Why did you leave?” Anya asked him.

“I was meant to be a warrior, but the clans were at peace. I left to fight for our country as a whole, so the clans could stay that way.”

“I was meant to be Heda. I was too overwhelmed to command all twelve clans, especially when Skaikru wanted to join the coalition. I did the same as you. I was meant to fight for things I wanted. And I wanted peace for all, so I joined the Air Force.”

The door started to rattle, Lexa put her finger over her lips to quiet the other group members. The door continued to shake, Lexa decided to check it out.  _ Surely if someone wanted to come in they would have already bust down the door.  _

“Shit!” Lexa heard it come from the other side of the door. 

“Get it off of me!” another voice, a female voice, cried out. 

“Ah, Clarke!” the first voice yelled again.

“Clarke,” Lexa said it under her breath and practically jumped through the door. 

The hall was full of the dead, seven at least. Two people were pinned against the wall. One was a medium height, skinny guy with black hair. The other was… “Clarke!” 

“Lexa?” Clarke stopped for a second too long. Another dead got its hand on Clarke, from the right. Lexa would be damned if she met back up with the girl of her dreams, just to see her die. 

Her Air Force training kicked in, the brunette jumped into action. Lexa took out two that were after the dark haired boy. She was headed to help Clarke when something grabbed her foot and tripped her. 

“Ah,” Lexa turned her head to see a dead arm attached to her ankle. “Get,” she kicked its head. “Off,” she kicked again. “Me!” she kicked one last time, her foot going through the dead’s head. 

“Lexa!” Lexa jumped up and stabbed one dead from behind. Clarke pushed the other against the opposite wall, grabbing her titanium water bottle out of her bag. She bashed the hellish thing until its head was nothing but mush. 

They both turned around when they heard Murphy cry out. “Oh my god Murph!” Murphy’s shoulder was covered in blood. 

“Clarke.”

“No, sit down. I can save you,” Clarke ran over to Murphy and drug him in the door Lexa came out of. Lexa didn’t even notice that Lincoln, Anya, and Aden had killed the remaining dead. 

“Clarke, it got me in the shoulder. Even you can’t save me now,” Murphy gave Clarke a soft smile. 

“Murphy,” Clarke’s eyes were glossed in tears. 

“Just tell Andrea and Niylah that I tried to be a good person for once.”

“No, you’re going to tell them. Get up, we’re going back to camp,” Clarke tried to pull Murphy up.

“Clarke, I can’t move. And it’s a day's ride back. Just, just take care of me here.”

“I can’t go back without you Murph. Andrea would kill me and Niylah would never forgive me.”

“Clarke, Niylah loves you. There’s nothing you could ever do to make her change mind. All you have to do is tell her the truth, I slipped up. I was too loud and it caused us to have to retreat from outside. The walkers followed us in and I was bitten. I screwed up for the last time,” a tear dropped off of Murphy’s chin. 

“Please, just make it back with me,” Clarke was full on crying now.

“Niylah will forgive you. She’s your girlfriend Clarke. Just talk to her, don’t let her shut herself out.” 

_ Girlfriend? Clarke has a girlfriend...you should have known Lex. She’s too good for you anyway. _

“That doesn’t mean I’ll forgive  _ myself.”  _ Lexa wrapped her arm around Clarke. 

“Clarke, it’s okay. Thank you, for taking us in when we needed you most. I don’t think we would have made it this far without you. You are a very good person, Clarke Griffin. Don’t you ever forget that,” John’s lip started to quiver. 

“Hey, I’m here,” Clarke sniffed. 

“I’m scared, Clarke.” More tears started to fall off of Murphy’s cheeks. 

“In peace may you leave the shore. In love may you find the next. Safe passage on your travels until our final journey on the ground...May we meet again.” With that, all was still. John Murphy let out his last breath. His body was limp, lifeless, and was soon to reanimate. 

“Yu gonplei ste odon,” Lexa, Lincoln, Anya, and Aden said in unison. 

Clarke knew what she had to do, she needed to put him down. He didn’t deserve to walk among the dead, he was so much better than those flesh eaters. 

“Clarke, do you want me to…” Lexa let her words trail off.

“No, I can...I can do it,” Clarke sighed. 

“Take your time,” Lexa stood up and turned to walk away.

“Will you stay with me? I don’t want to do this alone. You were with me when I lost all six of my patients. I want you to be here with me now,” the look in Clarke’s eyes told Lexa that this was going to tear the blonde apart.  _ How can you say no, Lex?  _

“Of course,” Lexa sat back down, beside Clarke. 

The former trauma flight nurse picked her knife off of the ground. She held it in her hands, just looking at it like it had some kind of way to make this easier. That’s when she felt Lexa’s hand on hers. Clarke looked up at the brunette, giving her a slight nod. Lexa guided Clarke’s hand to John Murphy’s temple. Lexa looked at Clarke, to make sure she was ready, and slid the knife in his head. 

Clarke let out a sad sigh, dropping the knife. The blonde collapsed in Lexa’s arms and sobbed. Lexa didn’t bother telling Clarke she needed to be quiet, so they wouldn’t attract any more unwanted attention. She let Clarke cry in her shoulder, all Lexa did was comfort her. 

“I know, ai hodness. It hurts now, but it  _ will  _ get better. You’ll eventually learn to live with this, and move on to the next moment. It takes time, but like I said, it will get better,” Clarke and Lexa stayed in this position, Clarke’s head nuzzled in Lexa’s shoulder, until Anya came over with food. 

“You should eat something. We can help you get your friend back to your camp in the morning, if you want,” the oldest Woods offered. 

“Yes, I would appreciate that. Thank you,” Clarke sat up and tried her best to eat.

Lexa had told Anya about Clarke, or rather Aden told Anya. Around a month after the outbreak, the were talking about things they missed. Aden thought it would be funny to tell Anya about Lexa’s crush. Lexa had an inkling that Anya had an ulterior motive with her offer. 

When everyone was finished eating, the group sat around the fire. There weren’t many words being exchanged, until Clarke asked what Lexa said to Murphy. 

“Yu gonplei ste odon is saying from my clan. It means your fight is over. I say it to any one of my brothers and sisters I lose in battle. Much like you say may we meet again.”

“Your clan?” 

“Yeah, everyone here is Trikru, or Tree People. We all lived among our people, each of us with different responsibilities. Mine was to be Heda, or commander of the twelve clans. Anya, my sister, trained people like me to become warriors. I was her seken.”

“She was the greatest warrior the clans had ever seen. Our father told everyone she was going to be the best Heda our people had ever seen,” Anya said, with pride in her voice. 

“But, I did not want that to be my future. I wanted to fight for everyone to have peace. Our clans were peaceful, but the world outside was full of war. I wanted to help rid the world of such destruction.”

“That’s very admiral of you, Lex,” Clarke squeezed the brunette’s hand. 

Lexa face flushed a deep red, “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Whatever you say,” Clarke shrugged. “Oh and what is, ai hodness? You called me it and I was just wondering what it meant.”

Everyone in the room, who understood what “ai hodness” meant, tried to stifle a laugh.

“Uhm,” Lexa coughed, “it’s uh…”

“Ya know, maybe we should get some rest. We have a pretty long road ahead of us, tomorrow,” Anya saved. 

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Lincoln agreed.

“But what about ‘ai hodness’?” Aden asked, with a devious look in his eye.

Anya hit him in the chest, “I said, we need rest.”

“Damn, okay. Shit that really hurt,” Aden said rubbing his chest. 

“Baby.”

Lexa and Clarke laid a little awkwardly next to each other. While Anya slept in the far corner of the building with Aden.

Lincoln, again, offered to be first watch. Lexa had a feeling Lincoln would go out and take care of his demons. Even though he may act like he’s all good on the inside, Lexa could see through his thick skull and tough persona. 

But everyone has their demons, we just deal with them differently. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRANSLATIONS:
> 
> Hodness laik kwelnes, ai gona  
> Love is weakness, my warrior
> 
> Nontu  
> Father
> 
> Ai hainofi  
> My daughter
> 
> Oso stegeda  
> Our villiage
> 
> Strisis  
> Little sister
> 
> Sha, ai laik Leksa kom Trikru  
> Yes, I am Lexa of the tree people
> 
> Aden kom Trikru es ai bro, Anya Kom Trikru es ai sis  
> Aden of the tree people is my brother, Anya of the tree people is my sister
> 
> Ai laik Loncoln kom Trikru  
> I am Lincoln of the tree people
> 
> Skaikru  
> Sky people
> 
> Yu gonplei ste odon  
> Your fight is over
> 
> Ai hodness  
> My love/wife


	6. The Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The day after Murphy dies

“Clarke! Behind you!” the blonde jerked her head around, letting go of her knife at the same time. Her knife struck the walker just feet behind her. Clarke turned her head back to Lexa and gave her a thank you nod. 

The group finished off the rest of the mini herd. They had barely gotten out of the building when they were trapped. Miraculously, no one was bitten. 

“How many was that?” Anya heaved. 

“At least fifty,” Aden said between breaths. “Lex, you don't even seem phased by the fact we just fought for our lives.”

“That’s what a few years of Air Force training does for you little brother.”

“I knew you were in good shape Woods, but I didn’t realize how good of shape that was,” Clarke added, just a little winded. 

“You don't get abs like Lex without a lot of hard work,” Anya winked at Lexa. 

“Abs? Please, I have better abs than Lex,” Aden bragged. 

“Bull shit,” Lexa couldn’t help but jump in. No one had better abs than her, not even Lincoln. 

“Then prove it,” Aden challenged. 

Lexa took her chest plate off and raised her shirt up to her bra, “Now you bro.”

Aden did the same, “I think I have you beat, sis.”

“Nah, I think Lexa won,” Lincoln chimed in. 

_ Holy fuck. Lexa fucking Woods, you have the best body I have ever seen in my entire life. There is no debate, Lexa won. Sorry Aden, but your sister is hot as fuck. Just look away Clarke, Jesus Pete you’re staring hard core.  _

“By the look on Clarke’s face, I think Lexa wins.” Anya walked past Lexa, “You’re welcome,” she whispered as she passed. 

“I have never loved you more than I do right now,” Lexa whispered back.

  
  
  


The drive back to Clarke’s camp took a day and half, thanks to their dead guests. Clarke stayed in the back with Murphy. She tried to hide the emotion, but Lexa was great at detecting a hurting woman. 

Lexa climbed in through the back window to Clarke. She didn’t say anything, Lexa just sat there beside Clarke. No one deserves to be alone while they grieve. Even if there were no words being exchanged, the presence of someone who cares helps more than anything. 

Clarke laid her head down on Lexa’s shoulder. The contact took the brunette’s breath away. Lexa wasn’t sure if it was the right move, but she grabbed Clarke’s hand, interlacing their fingers. She was expecting Clarke to remove her hand, take her head off of Lexa’s shoulder, and deflect. But she didn’t, instead she gripped Lexa’s hand tighter. 

Again, Lexa was unsure of her next move. She pulled out a picture of her and a little boy from Iraq. Lexa was squatted down next to the boy, with her arms out. He was running to her with open arms and a huge smile on his face. Lexa kept the picture in the slot inside her chest plate.  _ Always close to my heart. _

“Who is he?” Clarke asked, in a hushed voice. 

“Salam,” Lexa brushed her thumb over his face. “He was eight when I found him. We went through houses trying to find survivors from an enemy air strike. Nyko busted down a door to a local worship place. That’s where we found him, he was sitting in the corner crying out for his mom. 

“I figured since I was female, it would be a little less scary for him. I went over to him and he ran into my arms. I carried him out of that place and he never let go of me. I couldn’t even finish my mission, every time I tried to sit him in the helicopter he would cry out for me. Luckily, I wasn’t really needed, there weren’t any survivors. 

“We took off, with him sitting in my lap the entire time. I never thought I could get so attached to such an innocent thing. He was very smart, his English was better than mine. He told me he had an aunt that he could stay with the next village down. 

“We were all kind of sad to see him go. He was literally the light of us all. Even Nyko played soccer with him, when we reached his aunt’s village. And that says a lot, because Nyko is all big and bad or whatever. But the time came when we had to leave and go back to base. So we all said our goodbyes, Salam hugged everyone and gave them a kiss on the cheek. 

“I was the last to say goodbye. He asked me if I would come back and visit him. ‘Of course I will, Salam. Nothing could keep me from it,’ I said. We caught a break on our mission, so on our way back I asked to stop by and see Salam. Nyko was extremely persistent to our Captain, he let us stop for thirty minutes. 

“As soon as the chopper landed, Salam ran out of his aunt’s house and into my arms. Nyko had a polaroid, that’s how we got this shot of Salam and me. We let our guards down in that village, before we knew it, enemy helos were in the area. They dropped bombs on us, destroying the entire village.

“I ran after Salam, but it was too late. He was running towards his aunt’s house, trying to save her I guess. One of the helos dropped a barrel bomb on the house. That’s when my world stopped, everything around me was silent, all I could think about was Salam. 

“I took off towards the house, hoping and praying that he was okay. When I walked in, all I could see was dust and rubble. I found him under a piece of concrete, his chest was pinned. He couldn’t breathe, I knew deep down he wasn’t going to make it. But I tried to move the concrete anyway. I grabbed rebar and tried to use it as a levy, it didn’t budge. 

“Salam grabbed my ankle, he had a pleading look on his face. He said, ‘Lexa, it’s okay. I know I am going to die. Do not worry, I got to live longer because of you. You rescued me, you helped me when no one else did. You helped me. Thank you, Lexa.’ I sat down beside him and sang  _ I Found  _ by Amber Run. 

“He took my hands in his, and placed them on his chest. Then he traced an infinity sign on the concrete. ‘Ours is eternal, Lexa. I will always remember you, and you will always remember me. Forever and always.’ I said, ‘I love you, Salam.’ Instead of him telling me he loved me back, he said, ‘I will always be with you.’

“When he took his last breath, he had a smile on his face. After everything he had been through, he had a smile on his face. I broke, right there. The last tether to humanity died with Salam. I was filled with hate, so much hate. All I wanted to do was destroy the people that hurt him. I still feel for him, everyday is just another day to survive. 

“Salam wiggled his way into my heart. Since his death, I have found very little motivation to keep going, to keep surviving.” A tear dropped off of Lexa’s face. 

“Life should be about more than just surviving, Lexa. I am so sorry you lost Salam. He was incredibly too young to leave this world. Look, I get it. When I lost my dad, all I wanted to do was take out my anger on everyone else. I took it out on my mom, my friends, and the guy I loved. 

“But that did nothing for me or for them. I realized that if I wanted to keep going, I was going to have to deal with loss. As much as it sucked, I healed. My father will always be in my heart, but the hole he left in my heart, is slowly closing. It will never fully close, but nonetheless, it is closing.”

Lexa kept her gaze focused down, she felt heavy. She had never told anyone the truth about Salam, she normally played it off as a simple moment between her and some kid overseas. But he was so much more than that. It just hurt too bad to bring up the memories. 

Lexa didn’t realize it, but tears were flowing freely now. She was huddled up against Clarke, who was running a hand through Lexa’s hair trying to calm her. Lexa stopped caring about her tough personna at that moment, she just wanted to be comforted. She wanted to feel close to someone for the first time in a long time. 

“Hey, Lex. Wake up, we’re back,” Lexa opened her eyes, blue met green. The whole world stopped, all she could see was ocean blue eyes looking back at her. Lexa sat up slowly, she must have fallen asleep on Clarke’s lap and not realized it. 

“Yeah, sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Clarke smiled. 

“How many people live here?” Lexa asked, she had seen three people at the gate. Two more had come out of another building when they parked. 

“Eight total, but there’s room for plenty more,” Clarke made it sound like an offer. 

“Wow, how many people live in each building?”

“If we crunch, a lot. Like, a lot a lot. We could probably fit our entire platoon in this place if we wanted to.”

“So where do we stay?” Aden looked like a kid in a candy shop. Who could blame him? He hadn’t had a stable camp to stay at since the start.

“Aden, we haven’t been invited to stay. Learn your place remember.”

“Sorry,” Aden’s gaze fell to the floor. 

“Hey, you’re welcome to stay.”

Lexa let out a silent sigh. “Thank you, Clarke.”

“Anytime,” Clarke winked. 

Clarke took Lexa to where her, Aden, Anya, and Lincoln would be staying. It was a pretty large building, there was room for an entire convoy. They were given four beds. Each person had plenty of space between them for their things.

“Hey, is everything okay?” Lexa picked up on Clarke’s hesitance to leave their building. 

“I just...I just don’t want to tell Niylah that her brother is dead.”

“Do you want me to go with you?” Lexa offered. 

“Thanks, it means a lot. But i need to do this on my own.” Clarke gave Lexa a nod and walked out.

While Aden, Anya, and Lincoln got settled in, Lexa checked out the rest of the camp. Not prying but just, exploring. It was her nature to try and find the little things that no one really looked at. Like the instability in the north wall, or the exposure in the guard tower. She wasn’t really sure who to tell about these problems, until she found Raven.

“Lexa? Oh my god! The legendary Lexa Woods lives,” Raven pulled her old friend in for a hug.

“How’s life treatin you Reyes? I’m sure you haven’t been as charming as normal, ya know, since you can’t use your smartassness to get out of dire situations anymore.”

“Bullshit, I can still use my wit and charm to get away from the living. There’s more than just walkers out there you know that right?”

“Walkers?”

“Yeah, the dead. Clarke came up with it on day one.”

“I like it. We’ve just been calling them the dead.”

“Speaking of we...who is that woman you came in with. The one that looks like a gazelle and has a jawline that could cut glass.”

“A gazelle?”

“Yeah, they’re very beautiful creatures. I adore them, I really do.” Raven put her hand over her heart, to sound more sincere. 

“That gazelle is my sister,” Lexa laughed.

“When the fuck did I become a gazelle?” Anya appeared behind Lexa. 

“Reyes here thought you looked like a gazelle. Although, she had a very indulging explanation of why she thought you were a gazelle.”

“Care to share?” Anya asked, with an arched eyebrow.

“Uhm, I actually need to go make sure the fence is good. Maybe another time,” Raven said nervously.

“I actually came over here to talk to you about that. I spotted a few places that could use some reinforcements,” Lexa led Anya and Raven to the weak spots. 

“Damn, I do need to fix that.”

“Hey, what about that? Couldn’t that ridgeline be good for snipers. There should be something there to shield just in case of an attack,” Anya pointed out.

“Damn you’re hot,” Raven thought she said it under her breath.

“I know,” the older Woods winked.

“Oh god, if you two are going to fuck, please do it somewhere that is not our building,” Lexa pleaded.

“Hey, I actually have some good news for you darlin,” Raven drug Lexa over to the side. “Clarke is like in love with you or something.”

“Doesn’t she have a girlfriend?”

“Yeah, but before her and Murph went out on that trip, you were all she talked about. She kept telling me that we needed to go and look for you. She said that you were too strong to be outed so quickly in this shit world.”

Lexa’s heart started fluttering, she drained everything out. Even the gunshots coming from the gate.  _ Clarke likes me? What if she was just telling Raven that because she sees me as just a friend? No, she likes you...you have to think positive Woods.  _

“Lexa! Get your damn gun and let’s go help,” Anya had a worried look on her face. 

“Yeah, sorry.” The two ran back to their building and grabbed their guns. They took off towards the gate, where there was a small herd of walkers. 

“Wait! Wait! Don’t waste your bullets! Hold your fire!” Lexa yelled from behind everyone.

The shooting stopped, “Do you have a better idea?” A tall, good looking, guy asked. 

“Why don’t I draw them away. There’s too many to try and kill them all, I can just run in the opposite direction, fire a few shots to get their attention, and draw them away.”

“Lexa no. There’s at least a hundred of them, what if something happens? What if you twist an ankle? You could die.” It was evident that Clarke had been crying, her eyes were puffy and red, and she seemed to still be a little choked up. I guess the meeting with Murphy’s sister went pretty bad. It was truly heartbreaking, seeing such a strong person in so much pain. 

“Lexa? Were you even paying attention to a word I just said?” Lincoln snapped Lexa out of her thoughts.

“No, sorry. What did you say?”

“I said, why don’t I go with you. If something happens I can help you back here.”

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

“No, Lexa. I can’t lose you again.” Clarke’s eyes were pleading, she had dealt with enough loss in the last two days. But if Lexa didn’t go then there would be nothing left of this place. 

“I will always be with you,” and with that, Lexa and Lincoln took off towards the west wall. They cleared the fence with ease, firing a few shots along the way. The two drew the herd away from the front gate and towards a main road. 

“Lexa is going to be fine. She’s in better shape than any of us. If she wanted to, she could probably take out that entire herd with just a knife. Plus she has Lincoln to protect her,” Aden had a comforting hand on Clarke’s shoulder. 

Clarke said nothing, she only gazed at the now thinning herd that Lexa was leading away from their camp.  _ Whoever is listening, just please let her be safe. Let her come back.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lemme know if you want me to add anything!!


	7. Gathering

Clarke couldn’t help but stand by the front gate, waiting for Lexa to return...and Lincoln, yeah both Lexa and Lincoln. They had left a few hours ago, the herd had been completely gone for two hours. Surely they were on their way back by now. It shouldn’t have taken that long to lead them away.

“Hey, she’ll be alright. I take it you two were close?” Niylah wrapped her arms around Clarke from behind. 

“Not exactly. We worked the same shifts, we were basically partners. I wish I would have had more time to talk to her, get to know her, but work always separated us,” Clarke said, solemnly. 

Niylah kissed the back of Clarke’s neck, catching the blonde’s breath. “Why don’t we go inside?” She lead on. 

“I could use a good distraction…” Clarke let her girlfriend lead her to their building. If she was being honest with herself, she really liked Niylah. She was amazing, always cared about others. She put herself last, had breathtaking beauty, an endless personality, and even though they were stuck in a shit world, Niylah still managed to make her happy. Clarke couldn’t help but think something was missing, though. 

It didn’t take long for the two to reach their building, Niylah had her blonde pushed up against the wall in seconds. Clarke’s breath hitched as she felt warm, wet lips on her pulse point. She could feel cold hands snaking their way up Clarke’s shirt. She lifted her arms, letting Niylah slip her shirt over her head. 

Niylah pulled back for a split second, taking in the beauty in front of her. She turned, leading Clarke to their bed, lying her on her back. “I’m treating you tonight.”

  
  


“Hey, you think we can start heading back now?” Lincoln and Lexa had been jogging at a good pace after they left their new settlement. It had been around three hours, if it wasn’t for their rigorous military training, they would have been walker bait long ago. 

“I think we should keep going until it gets dark. We can find a place to lay low until the morning and then head back. There’s a shopping center around here somewhere.” Lexa said, not breaking her jog. 

“As you wish, Heda.”

“Don’t be a smartass,” she laughed. “I’m just trying to make sure there is no chance for the herd to find their way back.”

“You know they can’t track right.”

“Shut up, you know what I mean.” Lexa and Lincoln had grown especially close after her, Aden, and Anya found him. To others it may seem as if they were arguing and may even dislike each other. But in reality, the two were like brother and sister. Lincoln had even brought it upon himself to be Lexa’s personal bodyguard. Both of his parents had guarded Heda and became Generals to their Commander’s army. He took it upon himself to guard his Heda with his life, which just happened to be Lexa. 

“I can feel you staring into my soul. If you have a question, just ask.” The two had started walking twenty minutes ago. Lexa could basically feel Lincoln’s eyes on her. 

“It’s more of an observation than a question,” Lincoln paused, looking Lexa directly in the eyes. 

“Okay then, care to elaborate?”

“I just, couldn’t help but notice how you looked at Clarke. Especially when Murphy mentioned her girlfriend.”

_ Damn you Lexa, why must you give your feelings away so easily?  _

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“Don’t play that game. I can tell by the way your eyes dropped, you could pretty much see the disappointment radiating off of your skin.”

“You know what... _ Shit!  _ Linc get down!” Bullets flew past the two soldiers, just over their heads. Bark was splintering, hitting them from all around. 

“Look, over there!” Lincoln grabbed Lexa’s arm and started guiding her to the shopping center they had been looking for, to stay in overnight. 

By the time they had reached one of the stores, they were covered in walker guts. More than fifteen of the dead tried to impede their progress, slowing them down. Their little delay allowed whoever was firing at them to catch up. 

“Quick, in here!” It was Lexa’s turn to grab Lincoln and lead him. She pulled him into a Bass Pro store, which would allow for a lot of cover and vantage points with its big size. 

Not long after finding a hiding spot, in a pontoon boat, they heard footsteps. All the two had were their knives and guns, they left in too much of a hurry to grab anything else. It sounded like they were going to need a lot more than that to get out of Bass Pro alive. 

“We know you’re in here. Just come out, we don’t want to hurt you,” a voice called from behind the boat. 

Lexa could make out at least three different sets of footsteps. She turned to head to Lincoln, who seemed to have the same idea. He mouthed “four.” He must have heard another set that Lexa had not. 

After ten minutes of the people searching, Lexa thought they would have left by now. She was so wrong. It took another twenty for anyone to speak up. 

“Kraig, are you sure they’re in here? I mean, we’ve been looking around for the past thirty minutes and can’t seem to find them.” A different voice from last time asked. 

“They gotta be. There’s not any other entrances, and this store aint connected to any of them others.”

Silence fell again. Lexa and Lincoln decided to split up ten minutes ago, when two of the guys checked for other entry points. Lexa had climbed the giant, artificial tree in the middle of the store to get a better vantage point. Lincoln hid in the corner office, hoping it would provide some cover in case bullets started flying. 

A shot rang out in the store. “Denny! Get your ass over here! A whole bunch of ‘em just came outta nowhere!” Kraig was backed up into the corner, near Lincoln’s hiding spot. Seven walkers made their way, closer and closer to Kraig. He kept having to reload his shotgun, giving ample time for the dead to close the space between them. 

“There’s a door behind you! Just go in, I’ll take care of the dead.” The other voice, Denny, yelled back at Kraig. 

Lexa’s heartbeat skyrocketed, Kraig was about to open the door Lincoln was behind. She gave the group a few seconds to reconvene, to kill the walkers, before she struck. Five men showed up to help, she took her gun and aimed at Denny’s head.  _ Bang.  _ He dropped, then a blonde headed guy dropped, then a brown haired guy, then a redhead, and another blonde haired guy dropped to the ground. Lexa took all men out without them even noticing. 

“Lincoln!” Lexa called, climbing down from the tree.

The office door opened, Lincoln came out, bloody as ever. “I’m good, Woods.”

“Thank god,” the brunette hugged the soldier. “Let’s take care of the rest.”

After the two finished off the remaining dead, they started scavenging for supplies to bring back. Most of the store had already been cleared, but there were a few things that were definitely useful. 

“Why don’t we split up, so we can clear the place and get more stuff faster. Call if you need anything.”

“Sha, Heda.” Lincoln left before Lexa could hit him, for calling her Heda. 

They met back by the big tree, each had a huge hiking backpack full of supplies. Lexa showed Lincoln what all she had found: a butterfly knife, among others, an assortment of ammo,Yeti Rambler water bottles, winter socks, Under Armour thermal shirts and pants, and a few fire starters.

Lincoln emptied out the contents of his bag next: two thermal blankets, thick zip ties for the fence, some more thermal shirts and pants, more ammo, ten pairs of gloves, about fifteen toboggans, an Apollo tool set with a hammer, screw driver (flat head and phillip), scissors, tape measure, pliers, hex keys, and a box cutter. He also pulled out a pack of 750 assorted nails and screws. 

“You could have fit more stuff in your bag if it weren’t for that tool box. Why’d you grab it?” Lexa asked.

“I saw Raven, I think that’s her name, working on the fence before we left. She was complaining about her tools, so I figured I would get her a better one.” 

“There you go again, always putting other people’s needs above your own,” she joked. 

“We should get some sleep. The sooner we leave tomorrow, the sooner we get back. I’m sure Aden and Anya are worried about you.”

“Agreed. We should bring one of their vehicles back to finish out the place. There’s a lot we could use in here.”

  
  


“You’ve been staring at the road for the past hour and half,” Raven stated. 

“I’m just watching out for Lexa and Lincoln. Someone should be watching, just in case they come back in in a hurry.” Clarke didn’t take her eyes away from the road. 

“They scaled the back fence with ease, Griff. I think if they were in a hurry, they could get in.”

“Still, someone should be watching.”

“Care if I join you?”   
“No, go ahead.”

Clarke and Raven sat in silence until it was time to eat. Even then, an hour later, Clarke didn’t want to eat. She wanted to stay right there and wait for Lexa to come back...and Lincoln of course. Raven finally had to get Abby to come out, who practically forced Clarke inside. 

“Hey blondie,” Anya started, “my sister is tough as nails. She’ll come back, if she stayed the night somewhere she had good reason.”

“Yeah, the guys used to make fun of me for having a sister that was tougher than I was,” Aden added. 

“She always was one to beat everyone on base,” Clarke laughed. 

“Oh my god Clarke, do you remember that one time Roan tried to say she couldn't fight. So Lexa, of course, kicked his ass in front of everyone,” Raven snorted. 

“How could I forget. She looked incredibly...tough.” 

“Mhm, sure she looked  _ tough _ .” Raven teased. 

“Shut up,” Clarke punched her friend. 

A comfortable quiet fell over the table, until Abby broke it. “Wait, is Lexa that girl that you came home saying was…”

“Mom,” Clarke warned.

“What honey,” she began with a glint in her eye, “I’m just trying to clear up some minor confusion.”

“Mom.”

“So it is her.”

“If I say yes, will you stop.”

“Maybe.”

“Then yes, she is the one I said...that about.” Clarke’s deer chili became very interesting after that conversation. 

“Hey, Anya.”

“Yeah, Octavia right?”

“Yes. Uhm, so what do you know about Lincoln?” she asked curiously. 

“Nothing much, he keeps to himself most of the time. We found him not long after the world went to shit. He’s saved our asses more times than I can even remember.”

“He’s really cool. He was meant to be one of Heda’s best warriors, but he chose to join the military instead.” Aden chimed in. 

“What’s a Heda?” Bellamy asked.

“Our Commander, so Lexa.”

“Would have been our commander, Aden. We left that life for a reason.” Anya snapped. 

“What reason is that? Because Lexa didn’t want to command thirteen clans?”

“Aden.”

“No, I understand why Lex left. I really do. The clans were at peace and she wanted to keep it that way, so she joined the Air Force to prevent the violence from spreading back home. But why did we have to leave? I mean, mom and dad stayed. Indra and Gustus stayed, Nyko, Ryder, Gaia. They all stayed even though they are our family.”

Anya sighed, all eyes were on her and Aden. “You were too young to know this bro, but once Lexa decided to leave, she was no longer welcome back into Trikru. Her loyalty was question, no matter how much she tried, they would not have even considered to let her back in. Even if she was going to be the greatest Heda the clans had ever seen.”

“What about a conclave? Could she not have shown her loyalty by risking her life with all the other Natblida?”

“No, Titus saw her as weak. After Costia, he sought to drill ‘love is weakness’ into her head, until she forgot the meaning of love.”

“Azgeda cut off Costia’s head and delivered it to Lexa’s bed. Yet she didn’t miss a day of training. She pushed her feelings down so deep just to please that awful man. And he still saw her as weak?” Aden was furious.

“Yes. He thought after her girlfriend died, she would finally understand the consequences of loving someone.”

“I hope he died at the beginning.”

“I think everyone in the clans do, Aden,” Anya laughed. “So to answer your question, Octavia. Lincoln is a very nice guy. He may seem like a meathead that only cares for himself, but he is one of the most selfless people you will ever meet. Behind Lexa of course.” she winked at Clarke. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Language:  
> Heda- Commander  
> Natblida- Night Blood


	8. Kittens Galore?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the day Lexa and Lincoln return

Lincoln and Lexa had fallen asleep on the second floor of Bass Pro. Everything told Lincoln to get up, his senses were screaming at him, yet he remained asleep. Even when he tried to move, his body seemed almost like it was paralyzed. 

“Lincoln! Wake up, damnit! We need to go!” Lexa was shaking him, but he couldn’t move. He tried to open his mouth to tell her he couldn’t get up, but he couldn’t. Something was bad wrong. 

“C’mon Lincoln! The place is overrun with dead, we need to get out before we get trapped in here!”

_ I can’t move. _

“Why aren’t you moving?”

_ I don’t know. My body isn’t responding. _

“Did you eat something bad?”

_ The Clif Bar, check it and see if it had walnuts in it. _

“You had a Clif Bar last night. Are you allergic to anything in it?”

_ Walnuts. _

“Blink if I say the right thing.” Lexa ran over to the discarded wrappers and grabbed the one Lincoln had eaten. “Oatmeal Raisin Walnut. Are you allergic to oats?”

_ No, walnuts. _

“Raisins?”

_ No, walnuts Lex. _

“Walnuts?”

_ Yes!  _ He blinked.

“Walnuts, oh god. I don't have an Epi Pen. C’mon, think Lex...How bad are you?”

_ Three, not too bad, but bad enough to put me down for a few hours.  _

“Blink when I say the right number. 1? 2? 3?”

_ Yes. _

“Okay, three. That’s not too bad. But why can't you talk? Aden used to be allergic to peanuts but when he had a reaction he could still talk. He just broke out in a sweat and a rash.”

_ I don't know, this has never happened.  _

“I need to secure this spot and see if I can find an Epi Pen.” Lexa ran off, leaving Lincoln on the floor. She grabbed a lock and key off a display and ran over to the chain link door that slid down from the ceiling, locking it in place. It made a little unwanted noise, but that was the least of her worries at this point. Lexa ran across to the other side, doing the same thing. 

“Okay, sit tight,” she laughed, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself. I’m going to ransack this place if I have to. I am finding an Epipen for you.”

With that, the brunette ran to the first register she could find. She tore open the cabinets, nothing. The same result came from the next five registers.  _ Surely someone that worked here had an Epi Pen. The office.  _

Lexa jerked her head around to the back office. They hadn’t cleared that out last night, they could hear a lot of commotion coming from behind the door and decided that as long as the door was secure, they wouldn’t have to worry about anything. 

Now, Lexa was going to have to take a risk. She stood there, in front of the door, contemplating how to keep everything under control. If there were more than ten walkers in there, she would have to open and close the door, only letting one out at a time. But she couldn’t tell how many there were. 

Lexa looked around her, trying to gauge what she could use.  _ If you attach some heavy duty fishing line to the door handle and the pole behind you, you can have your foot prop the door open while you kill whatever sticks its head in the crack. Brilliant.  _

Lexa scanned around the shelves for the sturdiest fishing line she could find. There was more of a challenge than she thought there would be. Most of the shelves were trashed, the majority of fishing supplies were gone. 

_ Bingo! _

She came across a 450 meter role of 65 pound test Spectra braided line. Some of the strongest fishing line on the market. 

Lexa ran back over to the office door. She ripped open the package, taking one end and immediately wrapping it around the door handle. Her experience as a pararescue came with some benefits with tying knots. Lexa tied a nanofil knot to the door handle, she did the same thing across the room on the pole. To ensure the strongest hold, she repeated the process three times. 

“Hang on, Linc. I’m almost there.”

_ Please don't let me die today.  _

The brunette twisted the door handle, it was unlocked, good.  _ You would have felt really dumb if the door would have been locked.  _

She banged on the door face, the first one came. She dropped it with ease, along with the next five.  _ How big is this damn office?  _ Another six slugged their way to the door, each to meet the same fate. When no more seemed to come, Lexa cut the fishing line. 

“One last check. Anyone left in here?” she waited. “No? Good.”

The first drawer she looked in didn’t have an Epipen, no it had something way better.  _ Fingers can only do so much, just take it.  _ She couldn’t argue with her own logic. She put the item in her pocket and kept sifting through drawers. 

Of course, what she wanted most was in the last drawer she looked in. “It’s about damn time.”

Lincoln had gotten himself in a seated position, the effects were starting to wear off a little. 

“You ready?”

_ Yes. _

“Good,” Lexa took the cap off, jabbed the needle in his leg, and waited for it to work. It didn’t take long for his color to return. 

“Mochof, Heda.”

“Even after you’ve been in anaphylaxis, you continue to call me that. How many times have I told you I am not your commander.”

“You will always be my Heda.”

“Dork,” Lexa got up and started packing her things. “How long until you think you’re good to go?”

“I’m not sure. I have never had a reaction like that. I feel so stupid, the wrapper literally says ‘walnuts’ on it, yet I still ate the stupid thing.”

“Hey, it’s okay. We can stay another night if you don't think you can make it back.”

“I’ll see how I feel at eleven o’clock and tell you then.”

“Okay, well I’m going to find a way out. I need to see how many dead we’re looking at. I might even try to make something to distract them so we can get out.”

“Be safe,” Lincoln said, his expression serious. 

“Always am. Yell if you need anything.”

  
  


Clarke looked at the watch her dad had given her, it was almost three o’clock in the afternoon. Lexa and Lincoln should have been back by now. If they stayed somewhere last night they would have gotten back an hour ago at the latest. 

“She’ll be okay, princess.”

“Don't call me that, Bellamy.”

“Sorry. Look, I know you worked with Lexa. I didn’t and I can still see how strong she is, everyone can. I barely talked to her and I can see it. She’ll be okay.”

“Something just isn’t right. Something’s off and I can feel it.”

“If she isn’t back by tomorrow we’ll go and look for her,” Bellamy put a reassuring hand on Clarke’s shoulder. 

“Thanks.”

“Anytime, Princess,” he smiled.

“Shut up,” she smiled back. 

“They’re back! Open the gate!” Octavia yelled from the guard tower. 

Clarke ran over to the first gate, throwing open the makeshift door Raven had made. “Don’t you ever do that again.” Clarke engulfed the brunette in a hug. 

“Careful Clarke, I don’t come alone.” Lexa reached inside her front pockets, pulling out three golden and two grey and black kittens. 

“Oh my god! I love cats,” Clarke took two of the kittens from Lexa’s arms. 

_ I know.  _ “I found them under a dumpster at Bass Pro, their mom was dead. So I figured I would bring them back and give ‘em a home.”

“I want a golden one!” Raven jumped in and got a kitten. 

“Awe, Lexa brought back cats! Marcus, Lexa brought back kittens! I’ll take a black and white one.” Abby grabbed a black and white one from Clarke.

“I’m definitely keeping this one, so hands off to anyone who was thinking about getting the other black and white one,” Clarke announced. 

“But what if I want it,” Niylah wrapped her arms around Clarke from behind. 

“I guess we’ll have to share.”

Lexa thought she saw Clarke tense when Niylah touched Clarke. Probably not though, they look happy. 

“Anyone else want one?” Lexa asked. She still had two in her hand.

“Lexa!” Aden ran from behind the crowd and practically tackled his sister. 

“Woah, careful bud. I have another little guy in my pocket,” she laughed. 

“Don’t you ever do that again, you hear me?” Anya walked up to her sister with glistening eyes. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“I’m okay, An. I can take care of myself. Plus, I had a brick wall with me the whole time,” she gestured to Lincoln. 

“Lex. I’m serious. Next time you want to go off an play hero, give me some warning. I don’t want to see your ass jumping over that fence again unless I approve.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to you next time.”

“Good. Now, I’ll take her.” Anya took a small golden kitten from Lexa’s hand and walked away.

“Not even a hug?”

“Nope, you don’t deserve a hug.”

“I love you!”

“I know,” Anya called back. 

Meanwhile, Aden had not let go of Lexa’s torso. “You can let go now, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” Lexa kissed the top of her brother’s head. “Take a cat, it’ll make you feel better.”

Aden took the last golden furball from his older sister. “Thanks!”

“Anytime, bro.” Lexa reached inside the left pocket of her flannel, revealing a grey, white, yellow, and black kitten. The smallest of the group. 

“That has to be the cutest kitten I have ever seen.” Clarke’s cat didn’t like that too much, he nibbled her thumb. “Ouch! I’m just kidding little guy.”

“Looks like yours is an attention hog,” Lexa laughed. 

“Looks like yours is scared. He’s shaking.”

“Yeah, I almost left him. He was so small I didn’t see him behind his mom,” Lexa rubbed the soft spot on her kitten’s head. 

“What are you gonna name him?” Clarke asked, she already had an idea for hers. 

“Pauna.”

“I take it that’s something in your native language?”

“Yes, it means gorilla.”

“He’s a little small for a pauna, don't you think?”

“He may look small, but when I started petting the others, he swatted my hand. Anytime I went to pick up one of the other kittens, he would tackle them and come to me. He may look small, but he has a warriors heart.”

“That’s cute,” Clarke gave Lexa a smile that could have lit the darkest of tunnels. 

Before Lexa said or did something she was going to regret, she changed the subject. “How ‘bout we get these little guys some milk.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” Clarke looked behind her, expecting to see Niylah, but she wasn’t there.  _ Oh well. _

Clarke and Lexa got to the kitchen and realized one very important thing was missing. “We don’t have milk.”

“Yeah, it didn’t even register to me that this was an apocalypse,” Clarke giggled.

“There’s a pet food store not to far from here. I’m sure they have formula or something that we can use.”

“I’m coming with you this time. You took way too long on your other little escapade.” Clarke left no room for discussion. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, let me know if you want me to include anything in this!!


	9. A Good Start Turned Bad (Part one)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is a few days after Lincoln and Lexa get back from Bass Pro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lil bit of smutty smut

The gang was holding it together pretty well. The walls had all been repaired, thanks to Lexa and Lincoln grabbing some supplies. The group had even made the trip back to Bass Pro to finish cleaning the place out. Walkers delayed their plans a little, Lexa thought they would have moved on, but she was only partially right. When her and Lincoln were there, around one hundred walkers infested the store. When they went back, the numbers had been cut in half. 

Some had moved on, but there were still too many to take any chances. Raven rigged up a speaker to attract the attention of the unwanted dead, so the group could have plenty of time to run in, get what they could carry, and get out. Just like all full proof plans, there’s always that one factor that no one can account for.

Like the walker that appeared to be dead, like officially, but actually wasn’t. The walker that took a chunk out of her leg, and when she fell, bit her torso. There’s no coming back from a torso bite, you can’t just chop that off. 

_ Why does this keep happening. It’s almost like everytime I think everything goes smoothly, shit happens. How is she going to live without her sister? Her sister means everything to her. There’s no way she’s just going to bounce back from this. This may be that one factor that actually kills her.  _

 

**One day prior...**

 

“Yo, so when are we going to salvage what we can from Bass Pro? Mama’s gotta know a time frame to build this shit,” Raven asked, a little irritated that she was still unaware of how much time she had to build an automated radio, with enough range to be turned off from a hundred yards away. 

“I don’t know. Clarke is the one that’s heading this little op,” Lexa answered. 

“Well why don’t you go and ask your girlfriend for me?” Raven smarted.

“She’s not my  _ girlfriend _ !” Lexa hissed. 

“Mhm, okay. Just let me tent my sunglasses some more so I can block out the hearteyes you two throw at each other.” Raven made a point to push her sunglasses onto her eyes. 

“Whatever.” Lexa walked off to try and find Clarke.  _ I mean, sure. It would be nice to call Clarke my girlfriend. But then again, who has time for a relationship in the middle of an apocalypse? I mean really? Sure Clarke and Niylah are a thing, but then again, are they really in a relationship? Or do they both just need a fix? _

“Lex? You good?” Clarke asked.

“Oh, yeah...I was just...thinking,” Lexa shook her head to clear her thoughts. “Anyway, Raven was wondering when were planning on heading out. She needs to know how long she has to finish the radio thingy.”

“Radio thingy?” Clarke laughed. 

“Yeah, I mean, what else can you call it?”

“Honestly, I have no clue.” 

“So you got a time frame?”

“Tell her she has a day. If I’m being honest, I really don’t feel like going out today.”

“Fair enough, I’ll go tell her.” Lexa goes to leave when she feels a hand on her wrist, pulling her back, sending a shot of electricity straight to her core at the contact.   
“Wait, uhm…” Clarke fumbles over her words. “I  _ would _ like to go to the pet food store with you a little later. The cats are running a little low on food.”

Lexa cleared her throat, “Uh, yeah. Let me run and tell Raven that she has until tomorrow and we can head out.” She tries to hide the lump, blocking her words. And the crimson red creeping its way onto her cheeks. And the way her palms get a little sweaty.

“Okay, meet me at my building when you get done.”

Lexa just nods her head, not trusting her words. She reluctantly breaks contact with Clarke and goes to find Raven. When she finds the Latina, she’s working on the radio. 

“Hey, you have until tomorrow to get that thing working. Clarke and I are going to get some food for the cats today. We’re gonna wait till tomorrow to go back to Bass Pro.”

“‘Cat food’. Is that what kids call it these days?”

“That doesn’t even make sense, Rae.”

“Yeah it does. Clarke is going to be eating your pussy, and you’re going to be eating her’s,” Raven shrugged.

“No one said anything about eating anyone’s pussy, okay Rae? Me and Clarke are just friends…” 

“Alright Commander. Whatever you say. But if you two end up fucking, I get five hundred points for calling it.”

“I...okay,” Lexa gave up. 

“Go get ‘em tiger,” the other girl winked. 

Lexa answered with her middle finger.

“Why don’t you show that to Clarke instead of me!”

Lexa just ignored her, heading to Clarke’s building. She didn’t even bother knocking, she walked in. What she did not expect to see were two full breasts barely covered by a thin piece of a sports bra. Lexa froze, her eyes wide, and her mouth open.

“See something you like?” Clarke joked.

Lexa could not bring herself to look away, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t take her eyes away from Clarke’s chest. She was sure her face was redder than a firetruck when she let her eyes rake over the rest of Clarke’s exposed body. The blonde was in nothing but a sports bra and lacey underwear. Lexa inhaled a deep breath and finally turned around. 

_ Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Clarke is fucking hot. I cannot believe I stared for that long? She probably thinks I’m a perv now. Damn. I need some water.  _

“Hey, it’s okay ya know. I don’t care that you saw me.”

“Clarke, I am...I’m… really sorry. I didn’t even think about knocking. And when I saw you, I should have turned around. I’m sorry,” Lexa stammered. 

“Why didn’t you? Turn around.”

Lexa took another deep breath, there’s no use in lying. “I find it hard to take my eyes away from something so beautiful.”

_ There it is again, she called me beautiful.  _ “Thank you. I’m dressed, so you can turn around now.”

The brunette turned around, slowly. “So, uhm...you ready to go?”

“Yeah, let’s go.” Clarke turned around to get her backpack and Lexa, again, couldn’t take her eyes off of Clarke’s extremities. The blonde was wearing a white Nike tank top with black Nike leggings. Her ass looked like it was sculpted just for her. When she turned around, she caught Lexa’s eyes on her ass and smirked. 

“I’m not gonna lie, Clarke. You look hot as fuck right now.”

“Trying to get in my pants Woods?” Clarke quirked an eyebrow.

“Yes,” she answered honestly.

It was Clarke’s turn to blush, “Well if you keep talking like that, it may not take much.”

“What about Niylah?”

“We’re just fucking around. Don't tell me you haven’t been the slightest bit horny throughout this shit. I mean, you have to get a fix somewhere.”

“But before Murphy died, he said that Niylah loved you?”

“That’s just Murphy being an overdramatic ass. He was always like that, that’s actually one of the things I liked about him most. He could take something so miniscule and turn it into a world stopping problem. It was pretty hilarious if I’m being honest.”

“So you’re telling me, that I could have gotten in your pants a month ago and you wouldn’t have protested?” Lexa was actually kinda pissed.

“Yeah, I mean...yeah. Have you looked in a mirror Woods? You’re hot as fuck too. I’ve actually been waiting for you to make a move on me.”

Lexa was taken aback. She could have kissed Clarke long ago, yet she didn't because she thought at her and Niylah were actually exclusive or something. She should have known better. It is the end of the world after all. 

“Well fuck.” Lexa crashed her lips into Clarkes, eliciting a gasp from the blonde. Her hands were in blonde locks, deepening the kiss. She ran her tongue along Clarke’s bottom lip, asking for permission. She was granted access when Clarke opened her mouth and tilted her head sideways to allow more room. 

Lexa pushed the other girl into the wall, still attacking her lips. The only encouragement Lexa needed was Clarke’s hand under her shirt, rubbing her abs. Lexa broke away from Clarke’s lips and moved to her neck. She kissed her way to Clarke’s pulse point, stopping to feel her racing pulse. Lexa left a hot, wet trail down to her collar bone. 

Her hands were up Clarke’s shirt before the blonde could protest, Lexa’s lips were on the outside of Clarke’s bra, licking her hard nipple through the material. 

“Bed, now,” Clarke commanded. 

Lexa reconnected her lips with Clarke’s, letting the blonde lead her to the bed. The back of her knees hit the bed. She sat down and moved to the center of the bed. She watched as Clarke stood at the foot of the bed, and took her shirt off. Then her leggings, her bra, and her underwear. It was truly a breathtaking sight. 

Clarke stalked her way up to Lexa. Her lips hovered over the brunette’s, “You have far too many clothes on,” she husked. 

Lexa yanked her green tank top off to reveal a bare chest. Clarke growled at the sight before her. She was more wet than ever. Lexa’s pants joined her tank shortly after. Their mouths were reconnected, hands wondering over undiscovered territory. Lexa rolled over, switching positions. Her hand found its way to Clarke’s center, hot, wet, and ready for her. 

“You’re so wet,” she whispered. 

Clarke moaned at the feeling of Lexa’s hand on her sex. She felt it only fair to return the favor. “So are you.” She bit Lexa’s bottom lip. Lexa gave no warning, she dipped two fingers inside Clarke, who sucked in a deep breath. “ _ Fuck. _ ”

Lexa started working her fingers in and out of the blonde, getting deeper with each thrust. It didn’t take long for Clarke to match her rhythm with her hips. 

Clarke was more worked up than she had ever been before. She was close, oh so close, to toppling over the edge. She needed Lexa’s lips again. She pulled Lexa’s mouth back onto hers. Lexa swallowed a moan, when she curled her fingers inside Clarke. 

“Fuck, Lexa! I’m so close!”

Lexa took that as encouragement. She quickened her pace, curling her fingers harder into Clarke’s front wall, hitting her sweet spot. Lexa’s fingers were pulled in tight, as Clarke came. Her back arched off the bed. Lexa rode Clarke through her orgasm, before pulling her fingers out and bringing them to her own lips. 

Clarke’s eyes got impossibly darker when Lexa sucked the blonde’s juices off her fingers. Clarke tasted herself on Lexa’s lips when they crashed back together. It was a mixture of tangy and sweet. She had a craving to see what Lexa tasted like. Clarke mimicked Lexa’s move from just a few moments ago, switching their positions. 

Lexa didn’t give Clarke a chance to touch her before their lips were locked again. This kiss was a little softer than their first. Needy, but soft. Clarke reluctantly pulled away, needing to taste more than Lexa’s tongue. She kissed her way down to Lexa’s belly button before she stopped and looked at the woman above her. Lexa nodded, giving Clarke permission to go further. 

Clarke licked the length of Lexa’s sex, tasting every inch of it. Hands were in blonde hair in no time. Lexa’s hips bucked into Clarke’s mouth. She had to hold Lexa’s hips down to keep her under control. Clarke darted her tongue in and out of the brunette. Strong hands pulled her head closer to Lexa’s center. She moved to Lexa’s clit, licking and sucking hard. 

“Holy  _ fuck _ ! That feels so... _ good _ !”

That made Clarke increase her pace, sucking harder, and moaning into Lexa. The vibrations made Lexa nearly scream.

“I’m gonna...I…” Lexa took a sharp breath, raising her back off the sheets. Clarke slowed her pace, she was being more gentle now. She gave Lexa soft kisses to help her ride out her orgasm. Clarke licked every bit of Lexa’s aftermath, getting a taste of everything the brunette had to offer. 

Lexa tugged at Clarke’s hair. She climbed her way back up her toned body, leaving bruises on her hips and abs. She let Lexa taste herself on Clarke’s lips. Their tongues danced for a bit, before Lexa broke away.

“We really do need to get the cats some food.”

“My pussy was fed pretty well,” Clarke smirked. 

“People are going to start whispering. And I can’t have Raven finding out so soon.”

“Why not?”

“Before I went to talk to you, she said that she would get five hundred points if we fucked today. I can’t face her knowing she was right.”

“Points?”

“Yeah, I really don't know. It’s Raven though, can you expect anything less?”

“Good point. I guess I can let you go. But don’t think I’m done for the day.”

“Oh definitely not. I didn’t get the chance to actually taste you,” Lexa planted a quick kiss to Clarke’s lips. 

They dressed with only a few interruptions and were out the door in ten minutes. Raven just so happened to be walking by at the same exact moment Clarke and Lexa were walking out. The Latina smirked and mouthed “five hundred” to Lexa, who smirked right back and offered a wink.


	10. A Good Start Turned Bad (Part two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yikes, it has been a while since i last posted...(blame that on my coach and our rigorous softball schedule)  
> some of you commented how you were confused about relationship status and all that jazz, i kinda covered it here and i hope i didnt disappoint. i will talk more about what is to come for clexa and what will happen with niylah later on

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTION AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER!!!!!!!!

**The day of…**

 

“NO! You have to stay with me! Keep your eyes on me!” Walkers have invested Bass Pro once more. Her screams are too loud, no one can contain them. She hasn't stopped, the pain is too great to stop. I mean, she just got bit in two places, one of which cannot be amputated. 

How could she be so stupid, though? How many times has she told herself not to EVER walk over the dead. You never know when one is just...resting? Do they even rest? Who cares, it’s too late to test that hypothesis. Or, I guess the hypothesis was tested on her. 

Here she is, lying in a pool of her own blood, with two strong arms around her and screaming everywhere. Mostly at her to shut up, but like she said, she just got bit. Her life was over, there is nothing anyone can do about it. 

  
  


**One hour before…**

 

Clarke walked around her and Niylah’s room trying to find her bra. How hard could it be to find a damn bra? It’s not like her boobs were small…

“Looking for something?” Clarke turned around to find Niylah holding her bra.

“Oh, yeah. Thanks.” She took the garment from the other woman, putting it on. 

Silence fell over the two for a few minutes while Clarke finished getting dressed. She felt like Niylah had something on her mind, she kept pacing back and forth. Her bottom lip was about to have a hole in it at the rate she was chewing. 

“Ask me whatever it is you have to ask before I’m sewing your lip back on,” Clarke joked.

“Did you sleep with Lexa?”

Damn, that was straight to the point. 

“Uh, yeah. Why?” Clarke didn’t see any point in denying it, what happened happened.

“Am I not giving you enough?”

“No, you’re giving me plenty. What’s this about? I feel like there’s more to it than you’re letting on.” Clarke bent down and started tying her shoe like she and Niylah were discussing the morning paper. She didn’t even notice the tear that made its way down the woman’s cheek. 

“It’s fine.” Without giving Clarke the chance to answer, Niylah walked out with her backpack. 

  
  
  


“Yo, Lexa! Get your pretty ass out here and help me with this!” Raven yelled over her shoulder. 

“Why? I’m trying to get ready!”

“You don’t have to look like a movie star, you know?”

“I’m not trying to look like a movie star, you know?” Lexa smarted back.

“Mhm, keep tellin’ yourself that, hot stuff. I don’t really think Clarke is going to care. We are in a post apocalyptic world after all... _ fuck _ !” Raven yanked her hand out of her contraption. 

“What?” Lexa asked, jumping around the corner. “You good?”

“Yeah, I just need some super glue.” Raven held her hand out so Lexa could inspect it. “See, not that bad.”

“No, it is bad. You should go see Clarke or Abby. They need to sew this up before we go.”

“Yes ma’am  _ First Lieutenant _ , ma’am!” Raven straightened her posture, saluting Lexa.

“Oh shut up, Reyes. Go get your hand fixed,” Lexa laughed. 

“I don’t know if I want your girlfriend to fix me up or not. I have no clue where her hands have been here lately…”

Lexa just rolled her eyes at Raven’s comment. “Go get your hand fixed. We can’t go on this mission without you.”

“ _ Mission.  _ You sound like you’re back overseas, commander.”

“Would you  _ please  _ go find Abby and let her fix you up?” Lexa loved Raven, but good lord she could talk your ear off. 

“Got it.” Finally, Raven took off towards the medical building. 

Now that Raven was out of her hair, Lexa headed back to her place. She needed to make sure she had everything packed. Aden too, he was always forgetting his shit. 

“Yo little bro!” Lexa called out.

“Yeah?” Aden replied.

“Do you have everything packed up? We need to be gone soon.”

“Yeah, I have everything.”

“You never have everything…”

“What do you mean? I’m  _ always  _ prepared!” 

“Yeah right! You forgot your knife  _ and  _ water bottle on our last hike. We had to go back early because you drank all my water.” Lexa said matter-of-factly, with her hands on her hips. 

“Okay...that was one time!” Aden defended.

“What about that time we-”

“Don't worry, I made sure he was all packed up.” Lexa was cut off by an all too familiar voice. 

“Clarke? What are you doing here?”

“I was looking for you to see how long until we were ready to go, but you weren’t here. Aden mentioned something about you being back in a minute. I just decided to wait for you. Is that okay?”

_ Is that okay? Uh, I don't know.  _

“Yeah, that’s totally fine.” 

“Good,” Clarke shifted awkwardly on her feet. Aden must have noticed the shift in comfort because he slowly backed out of the building with his backpack in tow. 

He stopped when he stumbled upon another body. “Ai op weron yu ste gonai strik bro (Watch where you’re going little brother),” Anya grumbled. 

“Ai moda (I’m sorry). I wouldn't go in there if I were you!” Aden grabbed Anya’s hand, preventing her from going any further.

“Why not? That just makes me want to go in even more,” Anya smarted.

“There’s a whole lotta awkward goin’ on in there. The air is so thick you could cut it with a knife.”

“Clarke and Lexa?”

“How’d you know?” Aden asked, sarcastically.

“The only awkward in this whole camp is those two horndogs.” Anya turned back towards the door.

“Where are you going?” 

“To get my stuff. Just because those two are in there doesn’t mean I’m not going to get my shit together. We need to leave ASAP.”

“Okay, if you want to chance being scarred for life…”

Anya rolled her eyes, secretly praying that she doesn't walk in on anything too disturbing.  _ Here goes nothing.  _ The oldest Woods turned the handle, opening the door slowly. “Please tell me both of you are fully clothed.”

Lexa jerked her head around, buttoning her shirt up as fast as she could. She gave a quick glance to the blonde next to her and answered, “Yep, we’re good. Why wouldn’t we be?”

“Oh please sis, I know you’re after sex look. You came home way too many times after ‘seeing a movie with Costia’ glowing like a street light. I’m surprised mom and dad never picked up on your sudden color change. It was pretty obvious if you ask me,” Anya shrugged as she walked to her bedroom, grabbing her backpack.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Lexa tried to defend whatever pride she had left.

“Yeah yeah,” her older sister waved her off. “Now if you two could keep your pants on for five minutes, we need to go before it gets dark.”

Clexa shared a sheepish look and nodded. Grabbing their things, the two women went outside to meet the others that were joining them on the supply run. Andrea (driver and look out), Lincoln (the muscle), Octavia (for speed), Raven (for blowing shit up), Anya (as a sniper), and Aden (who was going to be gathering the majority of the supplies).

“Alright guys, let’s go.” Lexa climbed in the front seat with Andrea in the humvee. Everyone else climbed in the back with Lincoln on the turret. 

“Be safe and come back in one piece,” Abby looked directly at Clarke when she spoke, then addressed the rest of the group, “All of you.” 

“Yes ma’am,” they said in unison. 

Andrea started up the humvee, taking off. Marcus and Bellamy offered a nod to each member as they passed them at the gate. 

The ride was silent, and for the most part, unscathing. They did have to stop once to clear the road of about a dozen walkers. Other than that, there were no delays. 

Once the group got within running distance of Bass Pro (half a mile), Octavia hopped out of the back, with Raven’s automated radio in hand. Raven had designed it to play a high frequency sound that would attract the walkers, leading them away from the store. It had a 100 yard range, which seems like a lot, but they had to park the humvee a half a mile away due to the heavy tree line preventing entry. 

“All you have to do is get this to the tree line on the other side of the store. Get there quick and stick to the shadows. Radio in when you’re in position and get your ass back to the front of the store.” Lexa ran Octavia through the plan one last time to ensure she knew what she was doing. 

“Yes mother,” O rolled her eyes. 

“Be safe,” Lincoln kissed his girlfriend on the cheek. He had all the confidence in the world that O could get the job done safely. 

“Here goes nothing,” Octavia took off towards the tree line, keeping low and out of sight. She got to the destination without flaw. There was a reason the group asked her to be the “messenger” per say. She’s always been the quickest out of the group and had the lightest footsteps. Having O set everything up was their best shot of having a smooth plan. 

“Raven, I’m in position. Let ‘er rip,” Octavia radioed from her perch behind a brush pile. 

“Copy that.” Raven looked at everyone to make sure they were ready to go. When she got no objections, she hit the red button. Everyone jumped when the high pitch shrill left the small speaker. 

“Fuck, Rae! How loud is that thing?” Clarke asked, with a hand over her rapidly beating heart. 

“I didn’t get to test it out! It won’t get any quieter so I suggest we hurry the fuck up before more of the dead show up.”

“She’s right, we need to move now. Andrea, you stay here and watch out for any movement. Lincoln, you and Clarke are with me. Aden, Anya, and Raven take off towards the back. Pick up Octavia and head to your points. We need to be quick but careful. The dead may not be the only one’s attracted to the attention.” 

The group split up, going in their respective directions. Lexa lead her group through the front doors. Clarke took off towards the clothing department, Lexa headed to the hunting department, and Lincoln went to gather as much food as he could muster. 

On the backside, Raven, Octavia, and Anya were climbing trees to keep an eye on the walkers gathered in the back parking lot. Aden waited for the women to get set up before running inside to help gather supplies. He had the majority of the backpacks, so he would have the most supplies. 

“Aden, over here!” Clarke called out. 

Aden found Clarke in with an arm full of clothes. He unzipped his larger bag, bringing another out. He opened that one up just to take another one out, then another, and finally, he got to the bottom of the pile.

“Here ya go,” he said, handing Clarke a rather large bag. “I’ll leave this one too,” he put his biggest bag down beside her legs. “Where’s Lex?”

“Over by the fishing and hunting stuff.” Clarke answered, folding the shirts, pants, socks, and underwear she found, trying to maximize space. 

When her bags were filled to capacity, she found her way back to the front to wait for the others. She took time to check and make sure Anya, Raven, and Octavia were all still in their designated hiding spots. They were, good. That meant everything was okay. 

Or so she thought. Clarke noticed Anya jump from her perch to the ground, she was trying to get the attention of someone. Clarke looked closer and saw Andrea running towards Anya. Andrea grabbed Anya’s shoulders and spoke in a rushed tone. Andrea said something to Raven and Anya before taking off in a full on sprint towards Clarke. 

Lincoln walked out about the time Andrea and Anya arrived at the front door. “Walkers...everywhere,” Andrea huffed. “They surrounded the truck, I barely made a path to get through. They must have heard…” she sucked in a breath, “must have heard the speaker. There’s a whole herd on its way. We need to get out now!” That’s when it happened. Red hot white pain shot through her leg. Her leg gave out immediately, causing her to fall. And there it was again, except this time it was her side. Andrea screamed out in pain. 

Clarke was the first to register what was happening. She shot the walker in the head. Exterminating it for good. “Andrea!” Clarke knelt down beside her, surveying the damage.  _ Shit, it’s a side wound. You can’t do anything about that… _

“What the hell happened!?” Lexa came running outside with Lincoln behind her, backpacks in hand. 

“It looked like it was dead and then it wasn’t!” Andrea screamed out. “Ah! It hurts!” 

Lexa blanked. This wasn’t part of the plan. Everything was supposed to be okay. She had gone through every possible scenario, this was not included in those plans. 

“Look at me, shhh. Look at me Andrea,” Clarke was doing everything she could to get woman to shut up. Her screams were definitely heard by the dead, who should be headed back any second. 

“ _ Em pleni! _ ” Lexa’s voice rang out. It was effective enough to shut Andrea up enough to hear the moans and shuffling of feet coming from behind them. “We need to get back to the truck ASAP. How far away was the herd?”

“We can make it back, but we’ll have to haul ass,” Andrea sniffed. “The front of the herd had already surrounded me when I ran here. There weren’t that many, we can take them out on the way.”

Lexa looked at Lincoln who read her mind. “Let’s go,” he said, picking Andrea up off the ground. 

Aden grabbed four bags, leaving three for Anya, Raven, and Octavia to grab. Once they had everything they came for, they took off in a full sprint towards the humvee. Raven whipped her head around and hit the black button on her transmitter. 

_ Boom!  _

A huge explosion came from behind Bass Pro. All the walkers and the store were either obliterated or on fire. Raven had the biggest grin on spread across her face.  _ Hell yeah, Reyes. _

Everyone was relatively the same speed, so they stayed in a tight circle. Despite the extra weight in Lincoln’s arms, he kept pace with the group with no trouble. 

Clarke and Lexa lead the group, it was up to them to take out the front of the herd. Everything was going smooth, until they got the road. The herd was closer to their vehicle than they were. This herd had to be the biggest Lexa had ever seen. There seemed to be no end in sight. 

“Keys!” Lexa shouted at Andrea. She handed them over without question. 

“What are you doing?” Clarke asked.

“You guys keep running up the road. I’m going to get the humvee and drive it up to meet you.” Lexa answered. She gave Clarke no time to deliberate, she turned and ran towards the vehicle. 

“Clarke, let’s go!” Raven snapped Clarke’s attention away from Lexa. 

“Yeah, I’m coming,” Clarke hesitated, but joined everyone else in on the road. 

Lexa ran faster than she thought possible. The closer she got to the humvee, the closer she realized the herd was. They were still closer than she was.  _ C’mon Lexa! Let’s go damnit! You’ve never lost a race, don’t lose this one. It will most definitely cost you your life. And... you’ve only had sex with Clarke once… _

She made it! Hot damn, she ran her ass off and made it. It didn’t take too long to catch up to everyone else who was still running  _ their  _ asses off. 

“What the hell took you so fuckin’ long?” Raven asked, completely exasperated. 

“Traffic.”

  
  


When Niylah saw her sister, she broke. She decided right then and there, that she was leaving this place. She had lost her brother, her girlfriend, and now her sister. There was nothing tying her there anymore. 

That night, she packed her things and left. The only thing she left behind was a note. 

 

_ Clarke,  _

_ You are special, there is no doubt about that. You are brave, honest, strong, charismatic, and beautiful. You are truly beautiful. _

_ One thing you are not, is the person I thought you were when I first laid my eyes on you. I thought that in this darkness, you could be my light. That you could lead me through the hard times, and you did.  _

_ Then Lexa came along. I have nothing against her. She is an amazing person, and I don’t know what you did or said to her that made her sleep with you. I get it, there is lust there. But she seemed like the type to respect boundaries. So you must have said something… _

_ Anyway, there is nothing keeping me here. My whole family’s gone, you’re gone. So I am leaving.  _

_ Goodbye, Clarke. Thank you for everything you did. _

_ Sincerely, Niylah _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, so sad to see Andrea and Niylah go...BUT would you guys like me to delve into Niylah's life after she leaves (just a little, not much) and how do you guys want me to write her in? Like, do you want her to die or just surviving somehow????????


	11. Night Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six weeks after Niylah left camp...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my dudes, i am so sorry that i haven't posted in months, i really am sorry...but college life has kicked my ass in half and i haven't had time to sit down and write in a very long time...that being said, thank you for sticking with me and reminding me that i need to post lol here it is, it is short, but sweet...not really, you're probably going to hate me

_ “Lexa!” Clarke screamed out a warning but the brunette stayed unmoving. The Commander stood there with a blank expression. “Lexa! Behind you!” Clarke tried to run, but her feet were glued to the ground. She wasn't moving and the walkers were getting closer and closer to Lexa. “Please! Just run!” Clarke yelled. Nothing.  _

_ A walker grabbed Lexa by the throat, pulling her in with its vice grip. Screams filled the air, “Clarke!” and “Help me!” among them. Clarke tried, she really did, but her legs wouldn’t listen to her. She couldn't move, no matter how much she wanted to.  _

_ They were headed for her now, yet she was immobile. Not that she cared, Lexa was gone. The last good thing in this shit world had been torn to pieces in front of her eyes. Clarke stopped trying to move, she let the walkers approach her without a care in the world. They got closer and closer… _

 

“Clarke! Wake up!” Lexa jostled Clarke back to reality. The blonde jerked out of her nightmare, sitting straight up in the bed. Her breathing was erratic, her heart was racing, her life was still flipped upside down. She was in a full on panic. 

“Hey, look at me. I’m here, come here.” Lexa wrapped her arms around Clarke and waited for her calm down. “It was just a dream. You’re safe.” Lexa ran her fingers through Clarke’s blonde locks, knowing she loved it. 

Clarke sniffed and laid back, huddling closer to Lexa. “I thought you...you were right there...and then,” Clarke couldn't finish, she started sobbing into strong arms. 

“Shh, it’s okay. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon,” Lexa soothed. 

“Promise?” Clarke choked. 

“Promise.”

Lexa kept her grip tight and waited for Clarke’s breathing to level out before following the blonde into sleep. 

  
  


Lexa woke the next morning beside cold sheets. After getting dressed and washing her mouth out with mouthwash, she ventured outside to find Clarke. 

Raven had called her obsessive, now that she had Clarke, she apparently couldn't live without her or whatever. I mean, sure, it was nice to have Clarke by her side now, but the way it happened still stung. 

Even though she and Niylah weren’t really friends, didn't mean she didn't feel for her. If Clarke dropped Lexa for someone else, it would hurt like hell. Lexa could only be selfish for so long, she needed to talk to Clarke about what happened. 

“She went out for a run about an hour ago with Rae and O,” Bellamy caught Lexa off guard by his statement. 

“How did…”

“...I know you were looking for Clarke? You’re not very subtle, Commander Hearteyes.” Apparently everyone thought it was okay to start calling Lexa that right after she and Clarke got together...or whatever they were. 

“I would really appreciate if you didn't call me that.” At Bellamy’s bored expression, Lexa became a little more adamant. “Next time you need your slow ass saved, my eyes may be too busy staring at the beautiful flora around me to help.”

“Okay, okay, fair enough,” Bell threw his hands up in defeat. “Anyway, Clarke wanted me to tell you she would be back in like, two hours. So you got about an hour before she gets back.”

“Did she tell you what she was going for?” 

“Nope, all I know is when she’ll be back.”

“They’re back!” Anya called from the guard tower.

“What the hell? Clarke told me she wouldn’t be back for another hour…”

“I’ll be right back,” Lexa turned and headed towards her building. 

Something didn't feel right, and Lexa left her gun in her room. She was walking until she heard yelling, from a voice she recognized all too well, coming from outside the gate. She reached her room just in time for the shots to go off. No screams were let out so her guess was they were warning shots of some sort. 

Why the shots went off wasn't the issue at the moment though, Lexa didn't have time to contemplate why or how, she had to do. 

 

**ONE HOUR EARLIER**

 

Clarke’s hand shook as she looked down at the gun in her hand in horror. If she would have gotten there sooner, she would be alive. If Clarke could have just paid better attention, if she would have listened to her instincts, she would still be alive. 

“Clarke? Earth to Clarke?” Raven’s voice knocked Clarke out of her trance. 

“Yeah?” she answered, shaking the thoughts out of her head.

“You good?”

“Yeah, just...thinking about a dream I had last night.”

“Okay...well it must have been something pretty bizarre. You hit the tree in the same spot so many times, it there’s a hole in it, through and through.”

“Yeah, Clarkie, I’ve never seen anything like it. I mean, you’ve always had the best aim, but still. That’s some intense shit right there,” O added. 

“Lexa died…”

“What the fuck happened?” 

“When? Are you okay?”

“No, she died in my dream last night.”

“Oh shit, you had be worried there for a second,” Raven wiped some imaginary sweat off her forehead. 

“Why? It’s not like Lexa can actually die. That woman is more lethal that this .45 cal.”

“That’s why I was worried. She won't let her guard down around anyone but you.”

“I thought I was going to have to unfriend you there for a second,” O laughed. 

“Why me?”

“Because Lexa’s pretty cool and I don't know if I could be friends with you after you killed her.”

“Wha…I, wow. That makes me feel great, thanks for having my back guys,” Clarke checked the magazine of her weapon and sat it down on the tree trunk beside her. 

After a couple of moments of silence, Octavia started walking towards the tree line saying something about a lone walker making its way over to them. 

Raven and Clarke watched her back as she made her way deeper into brush to stay hidden just in case there were more than just the one. 

O ducked down behind a fallen oak when she heard a gunshot off to her right. “What the hell Rae!” Octavia yelled, standing up and shoot the walker in the head before whipping her own around towards Raven. 

She jumped back when a hand wrapped itself around her throat and gripped tightly. A man a little taller than Bellamy slammed her down on the ground, not loosening his grip around her neck. 

His arms were too long for her to scratch his face, and his knee was on her hips, keeping her from kicking. She hit his shoulders and tried her hardest to peel his calloused hands off of her, but nothing seemed to be working. 

Another gunshot.

The last thing she saw were his deep blue eyes before all went black. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I am experimenting with my writing abilities, so please tell me what I can do to improve this story! Most of you have probably read my other work "Are You in There?" but I kinda got bored with that story and I am having a hard time finding inspiration. This story was meant to help me get out of my writers block stage, yet it turned out to be a good start to a story (at least I think so).


End file.
